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Presented    by  \  y^^  \  CK e.K^  \h<\\  O  r\ 
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The  latest  word  of 
Universalism 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/latestwordofunivOObost 


The  Latest  Word 


OF 


Universalism. 


THIRTEEN  ESSAYS  BY  THIRTEEN 
CLERGYMEN 


BOSTON: 
UNIVERSALIST    PUBLISHING    HOUSE. 

1878. 


Copyright, 

By  Universalist  Publishing  House, 

1878. 


Cambridge : 
Press  of  John  Wilson  6*  Son. 


CONTENTS. 


-♦- 


Pack 

Introduction      ....  ^/ v 

I.  M.  Atwood. 

The  Divine  Nature  and/procedure i 

A.  G.  Gaines,  D.D. 

Human  Nature,  its  Capabilities 23 

J.  h/tuttle,  D.D. 

Sin  and  its  Sequences  > 45 

G.  H.  Emerson,  D.D. 

Jesus  and  the  Gospel    .   y' 69 

J.  Smith  Dodge,  Jr. 

Repentance,  Forgiveness,  Salvation      ....      92 
E.  C.  Sweetser. 

Punishment    .     .     .     .    ^. 113 

Asa  Saxe,  D.D. 

The  Rationale  of  Scripture  Exegesis      .     .    .     133 

Geo.  Yiill. 

The  Relation  of  this  Life  to  the  Next  .    .     .     153 
J.  Coleman  Adams. 

Eternal  Life 1 73 

Prof.  C.  H.  Leonard. 

Lmmortal  Life 194 

A.  J.  Patterson,  D.D. 

Universalism  (Scripture). 222 

A.  St.  John  Chambre,  D.D. 

Universalism  (Philosophy)     .  ^ 249 

President  E.  H.  Capen. 


INTRODUCTION. 


BY  L  M.  ATWOOD. 


OOME  of  the  topics  with  which  religious  discussion  is 
concerned  are  of  ephemeral  interest  only ;  some  oc- 
cupy attention  for  a  considerable  period,  but  at  length  fail 
to  awaken  sympathy ;  and  some  retain  their  hold  on  the 
regards  of  mankind  permanently.  The  question  with  which 
Universalism  is  historically  and  dogmatically  related,  the 
question  of  human  destiny,  is  one  of  perennial  and  absorb- 
ing interest.  Into  this  opinion,  however,  it  may  be  sus- 
pected we  are  beguiled  by  a  natural  partiality  for  the  relig- 
ious system  whose  fortunes  we  follow.  For  it  has  been 
observed  that  even  persons  of  candor  sometimes  betray  a 
habit  of  identifying  their  own  fervors  with  the  emotions  of 
the  race.  It  may  be  advisable,  therefore,  to  appeal  the 
case  from  our  own  tribunal  to  the  more  impartial  decision 
of  facts. 

The  first  discussion  which  Christianity  provoked  on  this 
general  subject,  related  to  the  truth  of  its  affirmation  of  an 
after-death  existence.     Human  immortality  was  doubted  ; 


vi  THE  LATEST   WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

in  not  a  few  instances  derided.  The  apostles  and  early 
preachers  of  our  religion  were  confronted  with  the  task  of 
estabhshing  the  fact  of  a  life  beyond. ^  In  such  a  discussion 
the  question  of  its  nature  and  conditions  was  so  subor- 
dinate as  rarely  to  appear,  and  then  only  incidentally.  In- 
deed, it  seems  uniformly  to  have  been  taken  for  granted, 
that  if  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  were  proved,  that  fact 
must  be  recognized  as  an  occasion  of  rejoicing  on  the 
part  of  every  human  being.^  But  it  was  inevitable  that 
when  the  edge  of  this  controversy  was  somewhat  dulled 
by  the  more  or  less  general  acquiescence  in  the  great 
affirmation  of  the  Gospel,  the  question,  "  How  are  the 
dead  raised  up?"  should  be  superseded  by  the  inquiry: 
Are  all  raised  to  one  condition?  If  the  answer  had  re- 
ceived no  bias  from  the  opinions  hitherto  prevalent  on 
the  subject,  it  would,  without  doubt,  have  been  quite 
different  from  what  it  was.  But  in  any  case  it  is  hardly 
supposable  that  it  could  have  been  an  unqualified  affirma- 
tive. The  vast  differences  in  moral  condition  and  desert 
among  men  presented  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  be- 
lief that  these  differences  would  be  annihilated  by  their 
resurrection.  Of  the  several  alternatives,  to  that  conclu- 
sion, we  find  that  all  which  have  been  adopted  in  modern 

'  This  is  very  apparent  in  the  arraignment  of  St.  Paul  before  FeUx  and 
Agrippa.     See  Acts  xxiv.,  xxv. 

^  No  other  intelligent  construction  can  be  put  upon  the  sentiment  of 
I  Cor.  XV.  12-28,  at  least. 


INTRODUCTION.  vii 


times  were  taken  by  the  various  parties  in  the  Church  at  a 
comparatively  early  day.  Justin  Martyr  held  that  some 
of  the  wicked  are  annihilated,  in  which  opinion  it  is  prob- 
able Irenaeus  coincided.  Tertullian  taught  that  they  suffer 
everlasting  pains.  Origen  and  Gregory  of  Nyssa  affirmed 
that  after  long  periods  of  discipHnary  education  all  the 
bad  would  become  good ;  while  Theophilus  balanced 
himself  nicely  on  the  opinion,  that  as  men  are  neither 
mortal  nor  immortal,  but  only  "  capable  of  immortality," 
they  would  raise  themselves  up  to  life  or  drag  themselves 
down  to  death,  accordingly  as  they  should  obey  Christ  or 
spurn  him. 

Speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  we  may  say  it  was 
an  accident  which  determined  that  the  view  of  Tertullian, 
rather  than  that  of  his  great  contemporary,  Origen,  or  of 
his  predecessor  Justin,  should  at  length  be  voted  orthodox 
and  bear  predominant  sway  for  more  than  a  thousand  years. 
Certainly  the  indications  of  that  early  period  pointed  to  a 
different  result.  The  balance  of  character  and  learning 
was  on  the  liberal  side.  It  was  favored  by  the  attitude  of 
those  who,  Hke  the  Nestorians,  belonged  to  neither  party, 
but  had  sympathies  with  one  and  antagonisms  with  the 
other.  And  if  any  thing  should  have  been  decisive  against 
a  leader  who  offered  himself  as  a  guide  of  opinion,  one 
would  say  it  ought  to  have  been  the  mental  peculiarities 
which  distinguished  Tertullian.     To  great  zeal  he  added 


Vlll  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

great  intolerance.  He  was  industrious  and  he  was  relent- 
less. His  tyranny  and  littleness  appear  in  nearly  every 
one  of  his  many  writings,  and  offensively  in  that  which 
was  addressed  to  his  wife.  His  well-known  maxim  as  a 
theologian,  "  Credo  quia  impossible  est,'""  —  I  believe,  be- 
cause it  is  impossible,  —  reveals  both  the  temper  of  his  mind 
and  the  animus  of  his  ministry.  That  such  a  man  should 
have  been  the  father  of  the  Church's  most  cherished  dog- 
ma—  or,  to  state  it  differendy,  that  the  most  character- 
istic intellectual  progeny  of  such  a  mind  should  have  been 
adopted  by  the  Church  in  preference  to  the  benevolent 
and  noble  conception  of  a  mind  like  Origen's,  offers  one 
of  those  moral  puzzles  which  the  understanding  vainly 
essays  to  solve.  For  whether  we  explain  it  by  a  refer- 
ence to  the  crudity  and  cruelty  of  the  age,  or  by  falHng 
back  on  the  final  resource  of  a  Divine  though  inscrutable 
purpose,  the  enigma  still  confronts  and  defies  human 
reason. 

The  vitality  of  the  controversy  as  to  human  destiny  is, 
however,  the  point  in  illustration.  The  maladroit  genius 
of  Tertullian  did  not  setUe  the  question.  The  curious 
blending  of  fiery  vehemence  and  philosophic  range  in 
Augustine's  nature  lent  new  elements  of  sublimity  to  the 
solemn  debate  ;  but  they  did  not  close  it.  The  condem- 
nation at  length  obediently  voted  against  Origenism  by 
Justinian's  council  (a.  d.  544)  did  not  dismiss  the  con- 


INTRODUCTION.  ix 


troversy.  The  repressing  influence  of  mingled  barbarism 
and  scholasticism,  —  the  incongruous  ferment  in  which 
the  brains  of  ecclesiastics  were  steeped  for  seven  hundred 
years,  only  availed  to  keep  it  smouldering ;.  it  could  not 
put  it  out.  So  far  as  explorations,  conducted  with  this 
point  in  view,  have  been  made  into  the  "  deep  profound  " 
of  mediaeval  literature,  it  has  been  discovered  that  the 
minds  of  men  were  vigorously  employed  on  the  great 
theme  of  human  destiny.^  It  is  unnecessary  to  trace,  by 
even  so  faint  a  line  as  that  we  must  necessarily  draw  in 
an  introduction,  the  emergence  of  the  discussion  with  the 
revival  of  inquiry  at  the  Reformation,  or  to  point  out  how 
it  has  steadily  held  an  enlarging  place  in  the  controversies 
of  the  Church  since. 

Illustrations  nearer  at  hand,  however,  may  better  serve 
the  purpose  of  effecting  conviction.  Fortunately,  we  have 
two  so  near  to  our  own  time  that  the  materials  for  their 
verification  are  accessible  to  all.  It  is  a  curious  phenom- 
enon, and  one  which  would  be  startling  if  events  could  be 
so  shifted  as  to  put  dates  a  century  apart  side  by  side, 
that  the  dispute  which  a  hundred  years  ago  was  wholly 
between  Universalists  and  "  Evangelicals,"  is  now  trans- 
ferred to  the  very  bosom  of  the  Orthodox  churches.  A 
Calvinist's  enemies  are   now  those  of  his  own  religious 

^  For  instructive  testimony  to  this  point,  see  articles  in  the  Universahst 
Quarterly  for  April,  July,  and  October,  1878,  from  the  able  author  of  **  The 
Secret  of  Christianity." 


X      THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

household.  The  men  who  are  engaged  in  pulling  down 
the  temple  of  Orthodoxy  are  Orthodox  men.  The  books 
that  deal  the  most  remorseless  blows  at  the  dogma  of 
Everlasting  Punishment  are  written  by  EvangeHcal  divines. 
The  guardians  of  the  faith  in  the  older  churches  have 
now  such  absorbing  employment  in  looking  after  home 
heretics  that  those  on  the  outside  are  left  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  monotonous  peace.  Now,  the  true  explanation 
of  this  phenomenon  is  found  in  the  inherent  and  irrepres- 
sible interest  of  the  question.  The  attempt  to  make  it 
subordinate  has  failed.  Orthodoxy  is  rent  as  with  an 
earthquake  by  a  controversy  it  has  striven  to  evade  and 
belittle. 

The  other  illustration  is  of  a  different  kind,  but  to  the 
same  purport.  The  Unitarian  denomination  in  this  coun- 
try presents  the  only  example  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
of  a  sect  that  deliberately  undertook  to  ignore  the  ques- 
tion of  human  destiny.  The  question  came  up  before  the 
body  as  early  as  the  days  of  Dr.  Channing  and  Andrews 
Norton.  These  eminent  men  and  their  scarcely  less  emi- 
nent confreres  took  the  position  that  it  is  an  unimportant 
matter  at  the  best,  and  that  it  is  impossible  to  find  out  any 
thing  definite  or  satisfactory  in  relation  to  it,  any  way. 
The  Scriptures,  they  said,  are  "  silent "  as  to  the  fate  of 
those  who  die  unregenerate,  and  it  is  folly  for  men  to  vex 
themselves  with  an  inquiry  which  can  never  result  in  any 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 


thing  better  than  conjecture.^     Dr.  Hedge  long  ago  spake 
of  Universalism  as  "  a  brave  hope,"  but  warned  his  brethren 
against  exercising  any  of  the  courage  requisite  to  avow  it. 
And  the  official  declaration  referred  to  in  the  preceding 
note  avers  :  "  It  is  our  firm  conviction  that  the  final  resto- 
ration of  all  men  is  not  revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  but  that 
the  ultimate  fate  of  the  impenitent  wicked  is  left  shrouded 
in  impenetrable   mystery."      If  any   policy   could   have 
availed  to  keep  the  controversy  out  of  their  communion 
and  preserve  them  from  any  effects,  good  or  bad,  of  the 
agitation,  it  would  seem  that  the  cautious  line  marked  out 
by  the  Unitarian  fathers  must  have  secured  it.     But  mark 
the  result.      The  Unitarian  body,  ministry  and  laity,  has 
been  carried  over,  by  stress  of  the  compelling  interest  of 
the  theme,  to  the  ground  of  universal  restoration.     The 
neutrality  formerly  affected  on  the  subject  is  now  sup- 
planted by  a  rather  coy,  but  on  the  whole  distinct,  affirma- 
tion of  the  "brave  hope."     It  has  been  found  practically 
impossible    either   to  evade   the  discussion  of  this  pro- 
foundly interesting  question,  or  to  prevent  the  denomina- 
tion from  drifting  into  avowed  Universalism.     The  obvious 
reason  is,  that  the  question  of  human  destiny  is  the  great 
question  of  religion,  and  wiU  continue  so  to  be  until  the 
faith  of  St.  Paul  becomes  the  conviction  of  mankind,  that 

'  Not  to  refer  to  individual'  statements  of  opinion  on  tlie  subject,  it  is 
more  satisfactory  to  cite  the  declaration  put  forth  by  the  American  Unitarian 
Association  in  1834,  and  revised  and  reaffirmed  in  1854. 


Xll  THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

''  the  creation  also  itself  shall  be  set  free  from  the  bondage 
of  corruption  and  brought  into  the  freedom  of  the  glory 
of  the  children  of  God  "  —  that  is,  that  the  "■  glory  "  en- 
joyed by  the  "  children  of  God,"  or  those  who  already 
were  "led  by  the  Spirit,"  shall  at  last  be  shared  by  the 
whole  human  creation. 

If  our  view  of  the  intrinsic  importance  and  lasting 
interest  of  the  subject  with  which  Universalism  is  identi- 
fied be  as  well  supported  as  the  facts  just  recited  would 
appear  to  show,  we  need  not  offer  an  apology  for  solicit- 
ing fresh  attention  to  it  by  the  publication  of  a  new 
volume  on  the  old  theme.  The  topic  itself  excuses  any 
sincere  effort  to  bring  the  high  matters  with  which  it  is 
concerned  closer  to  the  pubKc  apprehension.  But  special 
reasons  create  a  demand  for  a  book  such  as  this  is  believed 
to  be. 

Passing  by  the  circumstance  that  the  controversy  has 
broken  out  anew,  both  in  Europe  and  in  America,  and 
that  such  a  season  of  general  awakening  is  a  favorable 
moment  for  the  right  word  to  be  spoken,  we  prefer  to 
recall  here  what  is  less  likely  to  be  remembered.  The 
Universalist  branch  of  the  Church  was  called  into  being 
by  Divine  Providence  to  pioneer  the  way  back  to  original 
Gospel  ground  on  the  supreme  questions  of  the  character 
of  God,  the  mission  of  Jesus,  and  the  destiny  of  man.  It 
has  borne  the  burden  and  the  heat  of  the  day  in  the  sharp 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  xiii 


conflict  which  its  birth  precipitated.  It  has  labored,  and 
other  churches  have  entered  into  its  labors.  This  is  the 
fate  of  pioneers,  and  is  no  more  than  it  had  reason  to 
expect.  But  with  the  lack  of  grace  proverbial  in  those 
who  reap  from  fields  they  never  tilled,  there  is  manifest  a 
disposition  to  appropriate  the  harvest  without  so  much  as 
a  word  in  recognition  of  those  who  scattered  the  seed. 
Contemplated  merely  as  an  ethical  phenomenon,  it  is 
amazing,  beyond  any  thing  within  the  circle  of  our  obser- 
vation, how  unconscious  the  authors  and  critics  who  are 
overturning  the  old  interpretations  on  the  points  in  dis- 
pute between  EvangeUcals  and  Universalists,  contrive  to 
be  that  anybody  ever  mentioned  this  before  !  The  won- 
der increases  when  it  is  considered  how  exactly  these 
inquirers  follow  in  the  footsteps  and  repeat  the  expositions 
of  our  own  authors  for  half  a  century  and  more.  It  must 
be  difficult,  one  would  say,  for  so  many  different  men,  so 
widely  separated  in  their  work,  to  keep  up  the  dumb 
show.  Ah  !  how  refreshing  it  would  be,  and  what  a  new 
sense  of  the  orthodox  capacity  of  justice  it  would  give,  to 
hear  some  one  of  them  speak  out  frankly  and  like  a  man, 
and  tell  how  much  he  and  his  coadjutors  are  indebted  to 
the  patient  and  laborious,  if  not  always  accurate,  research 
of  those  pioneer  explorers,  who,  a  whole  generation  in 
advance  of  Tayler  Lewis,  or  Lyman  Abbot,  or  Edward 
Beecher,  or  Canon  Farrar,  developed  the  true  interpreta- 


xiv  THE  LATEST  WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

tion  of  the  terms  whose  misreading  has  been  the  principal 
buhvark  of  the  dogma  of  everlasting  punishment.  Per- 
haps, however,  it  is  a  trifling  thing  what  we  suffer  from 
the  injustice  or  inappreciation  of  others.  The  more 
serious  matter  to  ourselves  is,  whether  we  suffer  any 
decline  of  power  or  reputation  through  causes  for  which 
we  are  responsible.  If  God  has  called  us  to  a  certain 
service,  are  we  diligently  occupied  with  our  Master's 
business  ?  The  little  work  here  offered  to  the  public  is  a 
small  pledge  that  Universalists  are  not  insensible  to  the 
great  honor  conferred  on  them  by  divine  Providence  ;  but 
while  they  thankfully  recognize  the  important  aids  to  the 
progress  of  Christian  knowledge  supplied  by  sincere  and 
capable  inquirers  in  every  branch  of  the  Church,  they  are 
as  keenly  alive  as  ever  to  the  responsibility  devolved  on 
them  of  bearing  aloft  and  in  the  van  the  banner  of 
universal,  victorious  grace. 

But  if  it  could  persuade  itself  to  vacate  its  providential 
office,  and  surrender  its  separate  organization,  in  the  belief 
that  its  special  work  is  now  ready  to  be  wrought  in  the 
other  churches,  it  would  be  denied  that  relief  from  ar- 
duous and  not  always  agreeable  duty,  by  grave  doubts 
whether  the  champions  of  "  the  larger  hope  "  in  the  older 
churches  are  really  quite  well  equipped  to  carry  on  the 
campaign.  No  doubt  it  will  savor  of  conceit  in  us  to  say 
it,  nevertheless  say  it  we  shall,  that  the  views  of  those  — 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 


with  here  and  there  an  exception  —  who  are  creating  such 
a  stir  in  the  church  by  their  half-way  advocacy  of  Univer- 
sahsm,  are  exceedingly  crude.  There  is  very  little  coher- 
ence to  their  speculations,  and  nothing  approaching  to 
consistency  in  their  methods  of  exegesis.  Their  general 
propositions  constantly  neutralize  their  special  demonstra- 
tions. They  accept  the  very  postulates  of  Orthodoxy  that 
require  the  false  interpretations ;  and  they  are,  of  course, 
at  a  tremendous  disadvantage  when  they  undertake  to 
make  figs  grow  on  thistles  and  grapes  on  thorns.  What 
they  still  need  is  a  thoroughly  reconstructed  and  harmon- 
ized system  of  opinions.  Judging  from  the  rate  of  evolu- 
tion among  ourselves,  under  more  favorable  circumstances, 
when  our  theology  was  in  a  similar  early  chaos,  we  should 
say  that  such  men  as  Andrew  Jukes  and  the  author  of 
"  Is  Eternal  Punishment  Endless?  "  are  a  full  half  century 
away  from  a  clear  and  consistent  scheme  of  doctrines  in 
which  universal  restoration  will  sit  at  ease  with  the  rest. 
As  we  view  the  matter,  the  absence  of  a  congruous  theo- 
logical system  from  the  minds  of  these  writers  is  a  defect 
of  the  gravest  kind.  It  renders  much  of  their  labor  fruit- 
less, and  it  imperils  the  permanence  of  it  all.  If  Uni- 
versalism,  in  the  persons  of  its  trained  apologists,  ever  had 
a  vocation,  it  seems  to  us  it  is  just  here  :  where  fancy  and 
impassioned  rhetoric  are  so  little  ballasted  by  thorough 
knowledge  and  a  complete  view^  that  the  very  energy  with 


xvi         THE  LATEST   WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

which  the  truth  is  pursued  may  be  the  means  of  obscur- 
ing it. 

But  a  clearer  warrant  for  the  further  participation  of 
Universalists  in  the  inquiry  concerning  human  destiny 
remains  to  be  stated.  Not  only  does  the  inquiry  relate 
to  the  truth  of  their  fundamental  dogma;  not  only  are 
the  care  and  direction  of  the  debate  providentially 
devolved  on  them  :  but  as  a  progressive  people  they  are 
aware  that  the  evidence  put  in  on  their  behalf  at  previous 
dates  is  not  now  a  full  and  fair  statement  of  their  whole 
case.  They  must  be  presumed  more  competent  than  any 
one  else  to  give  testimony  as  to  the  present  state  of  their 
knowledge  and  belief.  The  title  of  this  volume  intimates 
a  comprehension  of  the  true  condition  of  facts.  Univer- 
salism  has  spoken  again  and  again  in  the  progress  of  the 
great  discussion,  and  many  times  by  the  mouth  of  men  so 
universally  honored  and  confided  in  that  their  words  were 
a  not  unfair  expression  of  the  best  thought  and  knowledge 
among  us.  It  is  now,  however,  some  years  since  any 
work  discussing  the  whole  circle  of  Christian  doctrine,  as 
understood  by  our  church,  has  appeared.  In  the  mean 
time  that  circle  has  considerably  enlarged,  while  it  has 
also  undergone  some  modifications  of  its  former  structure. 
We  are  in  many  respects  a  different  people  from  what  we 
were  twenty  years  ago.  Our  habits  of  thinking  have 
changed  with  the  changing  thought  of  the  world.     In- 


INTRODUCTION.  xvii 


sensibly  many  of  our  doctrines,  as  previously  formulated, 
have  recast  themselves  in  our  vital  theology.  Research, 
in  all  departments,  has  come  to  our  aid ;  and  what  is 
better  and  more  important  than  all  other  things,  we  feel 
at  the  roots  of  our  opinions  the  modifying  influence  of 
the  earnest  endeavors  we  have  put  forth  in  these  years  to 
advance  out  of  mere  denominationalism  into  genuine, 
organic  church  life.  It  follows  that  the  "  latest "  word  of 
Universalism  should  be  in  many  respects  a  new  and 
refreshing  word.  Whatever  better  and  truer  things  re- 
main to  be  said  in  subsequent  eras  of  our  history,  we 
indulge  the  hope  that  the  deliverances  of  this  book  will  be 
found,  on  the  whole,  to  report  more  fully,  if  not  more 
accurately,  the  present  convictions  and  the  current  im- 
pulses of  the  Universalist  Church,  than  any  which  has 
preceded  it.  At  the  same  time,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
writers  have  almost  wholly  avoided  traversing  the  ground 
which  had  been  occupied  by  the  special  labors  of  those 
authors  whose  works  are  still  of  standard  authority.  In 
short,  "  The  Latest  Word  of  Universalism  "  is  an  im- 
promptu effort  by  several  clergymen,  each  of  whom  was 
too  busy  to  undertake  such  a  work  alone,  to  meet  a 
demand  both  of  the  times  and  of  the  Universalist  public. 
The  plan  of  it  was  determined  by  obvious  considerations 
and  need  not  be  explained.  The  motive  which  impelled 
its  preparation  was  the  single  one  of  contributing,  at  the 

b 


xviii       THE  LATEST  WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

imperative  moment,  our  church's  share  to  a  discussion 
which,  besides  its  momentous  interest  to  every  rational 
creature,  has  for  its  final  object  the  emancipation  of  the 
minds  of  men  from  moral  bondage  and  the  ordering  of 
their  lives  in  harmony  with  eternal  goodness. 


THE 


LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 


THE    DIVINE    NATURE  AND   PROCEDURE. 

BY   A.    G.   GAINES,    D.D. 

"  ^  I  ^O  US  there  is  but  one  God,  the  Father,"  is  the 
answer  of  the  Universalist  when  questioned  as 
to  the  ground  and  support  of  all  religion  —  the  Divine 
Nature  and  Procedure.  That  this  answer  is  true  and  trust- 
worthy, and  that  it  is  supported  and  confirmed  by  what 
is  truest  and  deepest  in  Science  and  Philosophy,  we  shall 
endeavor  briefly  to  exemplify. 

The  problem  of  the  universe,  as  it  is  now  known  to 
exist,  cannot  be  rationally  solved  unless  there  is  a  God 
who  is  its  creator  and  governor.  If  there  is  a  God,  per- 
sonal, intelligent,  moral,  mighty,  free,  —  capable  of  origi- 
nal purposes  and  actions,  —  it  is  plain  that  his  existence 
easily  and  perfectly  solves  the  problem  of  the  Universe ; 
and  this,  according  to  our  faith,  is  the  solution  of  this 
problem.  And  that- this  faith  in  God  is  everywhere  taught 
and  commended  in  the  Bible,  no  reader  of  the  book 
will  ever  think  of  denying. 


2      THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

But  will  Science  and  Philosophy  sustain  this  faith ;  or 
will  they  even  allow  us  to  continue  in  it  ?  These  questions 
are  now  pressing  every  intelligent  and  thoughtful  Christian 
in  the  world ;  and  many  fear  that  we  shall  soon  be  forced 
to  answer  them  in  the  negative.  It  is  useless  to  shut  our 
eyes  to  these  questions,  and  futile  to  deny  their  impor- 
tance. They  involve  the  ground  and  support  of  all  re- 
ligion,—  the  ground  and  support  of  all  our  hopes  of 
immortality  and  heaven.  If  our  readers  will  go  along 
with  us  a  little  way,  with  some  care  and  patience,  we  will 
point  out  several  respects  in  which  Science  and  Philos- 
ophy warrant  and  support  our  faith  in  God. 

I.  The  operations  of  matter  and  energy  cannot  solve 
our  problem,  and  dispense  with  God,  —  for  they  necessi- 
tate an  original  condition  of  things  which  they  cannot  ac- 
count for ;  and  which,  hence,  must  be  irrationally  assumed. 
By  reason  of  radiation,  conduction,  friction,  &c.,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  doctrine  of  the  correlation  and  con- 
servation of  energy,  there  is  a  constant  diffusion  and 
practical  dissipation  of  energy  going  on,  —  a  constant 
downward  movement  towards  a  uniform,  and  consequently 
inert,  diffusion  of  energy  throughout  matter.  That  this 
inert  diffusion  is  not  now  a  fact,  proves  the  necessity  of 
a  God  rationally  to  account  for  those  intense  energies, 
actual  and  potential,  now  known  in  the  universe.  Here, 
then,  physical  science  not  only  allows  our  faith  in  God ; 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE. 


but  it  also  shows  us  a  scientific  necessity  for  that  faith,  if 
its  o^\^l  problems  are  to  be  rationally  solved. 

II.  The  problem  of  lifdj  and  of  individual  characteristics 
and  character,  cannot  be  solved  by  any  mere  evolution 
of  germ-cells,  even  were  it  possible  (as  it  is  not)  to  ex- 
plain these  germs  without  a  God.  These  germ-cells  are 
too  minute,  and  comparatively  too  simple,  to  furnish  a 
rational  groundwork  for  the  explanation  of  the  infinitely 
varied  and  complicated  facts  of  life  as  it  is  actually 
known.  The  minuteness  and  simplicity  of  the  germs, 
contrasted  with  the  amazing  variety  and  complexity  of 
living  beings,  necessitates  and  warrants  our  faith  in  God 
as  the  rational  explanation.  If,  to  escape  this  conclusion, 
it  were  (however  absurdly)  alleged  that  there  is  an 
adequate  infinite  complexity  in  the  minutest  germ,  our 
answer  would  be,  that  such  a  germ  would  as  much  neces- 
sitate a  God  to  explain  it  as  the  vaster  complexities  of 
the  universe  itself.  That  in  this  view  we  have  the  sup- 
port of  scientific  men,  take  the  following  in  confirmation 
from  Prof.  Clerk  Maxwell,  a  very  high  authority  in  physi- 
cal science.  He  says  :  "  Thus,  molecular  science  sets  us 
face  to  face  with  physiological  theories.  It  forbids  the 
physiologist  from  imagining  that  structural  details  of  in- 
finitely small  dimensions  can  furnish  an  explanation  of 
the  infinite  variety  which  exists  in  the  properties  and 
functions  of  the  most  minute  organisms.     A  microscopic 


4      THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

germ  is,  we  know,  capable  of  development  into  a  highly 
organized  animal.  Another  germ,  equally  microscopic, 
becomes,  when  developed,  an  animal  of  a  totally  different 
kind.  Do  all  the  differences,  infinite  in  nmnber,  which 
distinguish  the  one  animal  from  the  other,  arise  each  from 
some  difference  in  the  structure  of  the  respective  germs  ? 
...  To  explain  differences  of  function  and  development 
of  a  germ  without  assuming  differences  of  structure  is, 
therefore,  to  admit  that  the  properties  of  a  germ  are  not 
those  of  a  purely  material  system."  ^  Thus,  again.  Science, 
in  its  profoundest  and  subtlest  truths,  leads  us  to  God,  and 
warrants  and  supports  our  faith  in  him. 

By  a  similar  procedure  we  might  draw  arguments  for 
our  faith  in  God  from  the  phu-ality  of  the  elements  of 
matter,  and  from  their  various  known  properties  and  re- 
lations ;  but  the  limited  space  at  our  command  allows  us 
to  do  no  more  than  thus  allude  to  them,  and  recognize 
their  existence,  and  the  place  they  should  occupy. 

Philosophy  is  equally  generous  in  affording  confirma- 
tion and  support  to  our  faith  that  God  is. 

I.  Our  attention  has  been  often  called  to  the  difficulty 
of  conceiving  an  absolute  beginning  of  the  order  of  Na- 
ture ;  and  this  difficulty  has  been  urged  as  a  reason  why 
we  should  disbelieve  such  a  beginning,  —  why  we  should 
disbelieve  in  God  as  the  creator,  originator.     But,  if  we 

^  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  art.  Atom. 


THE   DIVINE  NATURE. 


attend  to  it,  it  at  once  becomes  plain,  as  Sir  W.  Hamilton 
explains,  that  an  endless  regression  of  eifects  and  causes 
is  just  as  inconceivable ;  and  must,  therefore,  by  this  sort 
of  reasoning,  be  condemned  as  equally  unbeHevable  and 
false.  The  one  inconceivable  thus  cancels  the  other ;  and 
we  are  left  free  to  consider  and  accept  the  proper  evidence 
that  the  order  of  Nature  had  a  beginning,  and  that  God 
is,  and  that  he  is  the  original  cause. 

Now,  a  Httle  attention  to  our  own  experience  will  show 
us  that  origination  is  not  so  difficult  to  our  thinking  as  it 
is  assumed  to  be  in  the  objection,  Men,  as  free  agents, 
are  familiar  with  the  originating  of  purposes  and  actions ; 
are  familiar  with  this,  —  that  many  results  in  life  find  their 
explanation  in  men's  original  purposes  and  free  actions. 
This  familiar  experience  enables  us  fully  to  beUeve  in  God 
as  the  creator ;  and,  accordingly,  men  in  all  ages  have  so 
beUeved.  It  also  somewhat  qualifies  us  to  comprehend 
how  it  may  be,  and  thus  makes  it  still  easier  to  human 
faith.  And  thus  it  is  seen  that  Philosophy  not  only  allows 
our  faith  in  God,  but  it  also  very  plainly  encourages  it. 

11.  At  the  very  beginnings  of  our  knowledge,  and  afford- 
ing the  materials  of  all  philosophy,  we  have  matter  and 
mind  given  in  immediate  co-existence  and  contrast.  We 
stultify  the  grounds  of  all  knowledge  and  of  all  philosophy, 
when  we  make  either  matter  or  mind,  as  known  to  us,  a 
mere  mode  or  sequence  of  the  other.     This  is  not  saying 


6  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALIS^!. 

that  matter  is  eternal ;  nor  that  God  could  not,  or  did  not, 
create  matter,  as  he  unquestionably  created  the  order  of 
Nature.  It  is  saying  that  matter,  when  created,  is  no 
more  a  mode  of  mind  than  mind  is  a  mode  of  matter. 
Both  as  known  in  actual  existence  stand  in  co-existence 
and  contrast.  Now,  note  that  mind  with  its  thoughts, 
feehngs,  and  volitions  is  a  conspicuous  portion  of  the 
problem  of  the  universe  ;  and  it  must  find  a  rational  and 
sufficient  explanation.  To  assign  matter,  —  or  any  of  the 
laws  of  matter,  or  any  mere  evolution  of  matter  and  its 
laws,  —  as  the  cause  and  explanation  of  mind,  is  to  behe 
the  grounds  of  all  knowledge  and  of  all  philosophy. 
Hence,  the  rational  God  is  again  warranted  and  supported 
by  Philosophy  as  the  only  conceivable  cause  and  explana- 
tion of  mind  as  we  know  it  to  exist.  If  any  are  disposed 
to  question  the  validity  of  this  argument,  let  them  proceed 
to  show  how,  and  upon  what  grounds,  we  can  know  any 
thing,  after  it  has  been  denied  that  we  know  immediately 
matter  and  mind  in  co-existence  and  in  contrast  of  sub- 
stance. This  will  not  be  done ;  and  we  therefore  reas- 
sert this  highest  philosophical  warrant  for  our  faith  that 
God  is. 

Having  thus  briefly  indicated  how  well  assured  we  may 
be  that  the  faith  that  God  is,  is  well  grounded  so  far  as 
Science  and  Philosophy  are  concerned,  let  us  now  go  on 
and  inquire  what  we  may  know,  and  what  we  may  believe, 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE. 


of  the  Divine  nature.  And  here,  first  of  all,  the  Bibk 
gives  us  a,  persona/  God ;  and  the  Universalist  believes  in 
a  personal  God.  This  faith  is  also  supported  by  such 
other  knowledge  as  we  have  attained  to.  We  know  abso- 
lutely nothing  of  mind  apart  from  personaHty.  We  know 
mind  in  many  conditions  and  relations ;  but  in  every 
condition  and  relation  it  is  individual,  it  is  personal.  To 
suppose  that  mind,  individual  and  personal  as  we  know 
it  to  be  at  all  times  and  every^vhere,  could  arise  out  of 
what  is  neither  personal  nor  individual,  is  to  stultify  rea- 
son and  causation  at  once.  To  state  such  assumptions 
is  not  to  explain  any  thing,  but  it  is  to  insult  intelligence 
itself.  Inasmuch,  therefore,  as  mind  is  personal,  the 
Creator  —  the  cause  of  mind  —  is  personal ;  and  we  may 
know  that  God  is  personal  in  a  sense  as  distinct  and  cer- 
tain as  minds  are  personal. 

Strong  confirmation  of  this  is  afforded  by  the  oneness 
of  plan,  and  character,  and  procedure,  observed  every- 
where in  the  universe ;  and  this  oneness  finds  its  ground 
and  explanation  at  once  in  the  personal  God,  the  Creator 
and  Governor  of  the  universe. 

By  a  similar  hne  of  thought  we  confirm  our  faith  in 
God  as  intelligent,  rational.  We  may  everywhere  observe 
the  adaptations  of  things  to  each  other,  and  of  means  to 
ends,  attesting  thought  and  design  in  the  Creator.  We 
may  also  observe  remoter  ends  pursued  and  promoted  by 


8  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

subtile  and  complex  adjustments,  of  means,  some  of  which 
at  first  sight  even  seem  to  us  subversive  of  the  ends  they 
actually  promote ;  and  this  impresses  us  with  the  fore- 
thought and  far-seeing  intelligence  of  God.  And  to  all 
this  may  be  added  all  the  intelligence,  skill,  and  wisdom 
found  in  man,  and  exhibited  by  him ;  for  God  is  his 
creator,  and  as  the  rational  cause  is  always  superior  to  the 
effect,  these  effects  in  man  attest  the  superior  intelligence 
and  wisdom  of  God.  By  what  we  thus  know  ourselves 
to  be,  we  know  that  God  is  personal,  intelligent,  wise. 

We  may  assert  on  equally  good  grounds  that  God  is 
moral,  holy,  righteous,  just.  These  qualities  are  all  found 
in  man,  and  by  reason  of  them  he  is  subject  to  a  peculiar 
law,  —  a  law  to  which  other  creatures  known  to  us  are 
not  subject :  we  call  it  the  moral  law.  This  law  is 
everywhere  potent  in  human  affairs  :  man  cannot  divest 
himself  of  its  influence.  It  is  a  peculiar  law,  in  that  it 
spurns  necessity,  and  all  pleas  of  necessary  causation. 
It  stands  in  the  presence  of  Nature  and  of  Nature's  laws ; 
in  the  presence  of  what  is,  and  boldly  says  that  it  ought 
not  to  be.  By  all  the  laws  of  ordinary  and  natural  causa- 
tion, the  what  is,  as  the  necessary  and  legitimate  sequence 
of  its  causal  antecedents,  has  the  best  of  reasons  for 
being,  and  for  being  what  it  is.  But  here  is  something 
condemning  it  in  a  new  language  as  wro7ig,  as  having 
no  right  to  be.     Whence  comes  this  peculiar  law  thus 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE. 


wrought  into  the  whole  texture  of  human  life  ?  One  only 
answer  can  be  given,  —  it  is  of  God ;  and  hence  we 
may  know  that  God  is  moral,  just,  holy. 

After  what  has  now  been  shown  of  the  intelligence, 
holiness,  and  personality  of  God,  it  seems  needless  to  do 
more  than  state  the  obvious  proposition  that  God  is 
powerful,  mighty,  —  the  Scriptures  say  Almighty.  Proofs 
and  illustrations  of  this  are  to  be  seen  everywhere,  from 
"  the  wind  that  bloweth  where  it  listeth,"  to  the  rolling 
worlds  and  suns  that  fill  the  immensity  of  space. 

We  have  also  said  that  God  is  free  ;  that  he  is  an  orig- 
inal power  and  \vill,  capable  of  original  purposes  and 
actions.  These  may  be  said  to  be  essential  attributes 
of  Divine  personality ;  and  any  power  or  force  that  did 
not  possess  them,  whatever  some  men  might  fancy  to  call 
it,  would  not,  and  could  not,  fulfil  our  notion  of  God. 
These  qualities,  too,  are  so  familiar  in  our  experience ; 
we  know  so  well  what  it  is  to  form  original  purposes,  and 
pursue  them  by  voluntary  means,  —  what  it  is  to  will,  and 
what  it  is  to  act,  —  that  any  conception  of  God  which  de- 
nied him  these  attributes,  would  be  at  once  rejected  as 
absurd.  Here,  then,  we  sum  up  and  repeat  our  steadfast 
faith  in  God,  as  the  mighty  God,  —  rational,  personal, 
moral,  original,  and  free ;  and  we  give  both  reason  and 
revelation  as  our  instructors  and  guides  in  this  faith. 

We  desire  to  go  a  little  farther  into  this  subject,  and 


10     THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

inquire  whether  we  may  not  claim  to  kfww  God  in  a  true 
and  comprehensible  sense.  In  this  inquiry  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  "spiritual  things  are  spiritually  dis- 
cerned ;  "  and,  we  may  add,  that  spiritual  things  can  only 
be  spiritually  discerned.  This  truth,  in  both  its  forms,  is 
very  familiar  in  our  daily  experience ;  and  no  man  dis- 
trusts to  call  it  knowledge,  or  hesitates  to  act  on  it  as 
knowledge.  For  example  :  the  living,  thinking,  willing 
being  we  know  ourselves  to  be,  was  never  seen  by  the 
fleshly  eyes  of  our  friends,  nor  can  we  be  thus  seen ; 
and  we,  in  turn,  never  with  material  eyes  saw  our  friends 
as  minds,  souls.  But  we  do  daily,  hourly,  discern  each 
other  mentally,  spiritually;  and  we  know  and  test  the 
identity  of  our  friends  spiritually,  with  as  great  assurance 
as  we  know  and  test  the  identity  of  their  bodies.  Nor 
can  this  be  said  to  be  through  the  body,  or,  properly,  to 
depend  on  the  body ;  for  the  body  may  be  disguised,  and 
every  bodily  feature  mutilated,  until  identification  of  the 
body  is  impossible,  and  still  the  mind  will  reveal  itself  un- 
mistakably to  the  minds  of  our  friends.  Recall  the  story  of 
Blondel,  the  minstrel  friend  of  King  Richard  I.,  going  in 
search  of  his  lost  and  imprisoned  lord.  At  last  the  min- 
strel came  to  a  castle  in  which  he  suspected  his  friend 
was  confined,  but  he  could  get  no  information  to  support 
or  confirm  his  suspicions.  But  one  day  he  took  a  station 
in  front  of  that  part  of  the  castle  supposed  to  be  the 


TEE  DIVINE  NATURE.  II 

prison,  and  sang  and  played  the  first  half  of  a  little  ballad 
which  he  and  King  Richard  had  composed  together  years 
before.  He  paused,  and  was  immediately  answered  from 
within  the  prison  by  the  other  half  of  the  same  ballad, 
with  the  same  musical  accompaniment.  Imagine  the 
joy  of  the  minstrel,  for  he  had  found  his  friend  and  king  ! 
He  hastened  home  to  England,  and  reported  where  the 
king  was  confined ;  and  this  led  to  Richard's  release  and 
restoration  to  his  kingdom.  Blondel  knew  it  was  his  lord  ; 
but  you  see  it  was  tlirough  mind  speaking  to  mind  when 
no  bodily  form  could  be  seen.  Facts  and  experiences 
of  this  kind  are  so  common  and  so  famihar  to  us,  that  it 
is  needless  to  dwell  upon  them. 

However,  the  application  of  these  familiar  truths  to 
our  knowledge  of  God  is  important,  and  worthy  of  being 
drawn  out  a  httle.  We  may,  I  think,  hold  that  we  know 
that  God  is,  and  that  we  may  have  some  very  trustworthy 
and  encouraging  knowledge  of  him  ;  and  in  this  statement 
the  word  "  knowledge  "  is  used  thoughtfully  and  advisedly. 
It  is  written  that  "  the  pure  in  heart  see  God ;  "  and  it  is 
true,  and  realized  in  actual  spiritual  discernment.  The 
pure  in  heart  perceive  and  understand  the  language  of 
hoUness ;  and  it  is  as  holy,  that  they  more  especially  see 
God.  But  the  intelligent,  thinking  God  speaks  to  our 
minds  in  all  the  ways  mind  speaks  to  mind  ;  and  we  thus 
know  that  God  is,  and  that  he  is  all  that  his  expressed 


12     THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

thought  implies,  in  the  same  way  that  we  know  that  our 
fellow-men  are,  and  that  they  are  rational,  willing,  loving 
souls,  with  such  and  such  characters. 

This  expression  of  God's  thought  and  character  is  ex- 
emplified nearly  everywhere.  Take  an  example  from  the 
human  heart.  Can  any  man  look  into  the  ventricles 
of  this  organ,  and  observe  the  construction  of  the  mitral 
and  tricuspid  valves,  with  the  tendinous  chords  attached 
to  them,  and  running  across  these  cavities  and  attached 
to  the  summits  of  papillary  muscles  on  the  opposite  sides, 
—  can  any  one  observe  these  things,  and  note  the  ends 
served,  and  so  admirably  served,  by  these  means,  and  not 
discern  the  wise  constructive  thought  that  speaks  through 
them  ?  If  he  attends  reverently  to  this  language,  he  will 
discern  it  as  God's  thought,  and  he  will  be  thus  brought 
spiritually  face  to  face  with  God.  He  will  discern  it  as 
God^s  thought,  for  well  he  knows  that  it  is  not  man's 
thought,  and  never  could  be.  He  sees  no  material  form, 
and  hears  no  sound  in  sense ;  but  he  reads  God's  thought 
as  Blondel  read  King  Richard's,  and  his  assurance  and 
his  joy  are  as  great.  Who,  again,  can  look  into  the 
wonderful  mechanism  of  the  human  ear,  and  not  clearly 
discern  the  thought  of  the  Divine  architect  ?  From  the 
skilful  adjustment  of  the  bones  joining  the  membranous 
tympanum  to  the  membrane  that  closes  the  oval  window, 
to  the  ramifications  of  the  auditory  nerve  in  the  cochlea, 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE.  1 3 


and  membranous  labyrinth,  with  the  means  therein  for 
acting  on  these  terminal  nerves,  —  this  human  ear  speaks 
the  thought  and  purpose  of  the  God  who  made  it.  And 
what  is  true  of  the  heart  and  the  ear,  is  true  in  like  man- 
ner of  m}Tiads  of  things  that  express  God's  thought  and 
purpose ;  and  we  may  assert  here  knowledge  of  God  on 
a  footing  exactly  analogous  to  that  on  which  we  assert 
knowledge  of  men. 

Our  friends,  the  archaeologists,  who  dig  up  the  sites 
of  buried  and  forgotten  cities ;  who  rake  over  old  shell 
mounds,  and  dredge  the  bottoms  of  lakes  and  bogs  ;  who 
explore  old  caves,  and  dens  of  wild  beasts,  and  turn  up 
the  strata  of  the  earth,  in  their  search  after  human  remains 
and  relics,  —  these  men  are  right  in  saying  their  rude  find- 
ings —  even  their  flint  chips  —  speak  knowledge  to  them 
of  the  existence  and  the  thoughts  of  men  of  those  forgot- 
ten times.  Yes,  they  are  right ;  for  mind  speaks  to  mind 
by  the  simple  flint  chips,  and  it  is  understood.  But  how 
much  more  does  God  nearly  everywhere  speak  to  our 
minds;  and  by  a  language  so  much  fuller  and  clearer 
than  the  flint  chips  and  implements  of  the  archaeologist ! 
Who  will  say,  then,  that  we  do  not  so  much  the  more 
certainly  know  that  God  is,  and  that  he  is  very  near  to 
every  one  of  us  ?  Yes,  God  is ;  and  the  universe,  and 
all  its  parts,  relations,  and  adaptations,  express  his  will 
and  thought :  and  all  these  things  that  are  made  are  what 


14  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 


they  are  because  God,  the  creator,  is  what  he  is.  Thus 
it  is  that  the  nature  of  God  is  the  ground  and  explanation 
of  the  universe  in  its  essential  constitution,  relations,  and 
ends ;  and  were  it  conceivable  that  God  might  have  been 
essentially  different  from  what  he  is,  then  the  universe 
would  never  have  been  what  it  is.  Because  God  embodies 
infinite  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness,  these  attributes  are 
nearly  everywhere  exemplified  in  the  universe.  We  do 
not  say  that  we  know  that  these  attributes  must  be  ex- 
emplified in  the  world,  because  we  first  know  them  to  be 
attributes  of  God.  To  do  this  were  to  proceed  by  a 
method  of  deduction  that  cannot  be  made  trustworthy : 
deduction  from  assumed  premises  in  the  infinite  to  what 
we  conclude  must  be  the  Divine  procedure  in  the  finite 
affairs  of  this  world.  What  we  do  maintain  is,  that  be- 
cause power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  are  clearly  revealed 
in  the  things  that  are  made,  we  may  know  that  they  are 
attributes  of  him  who  made  the  worlds.  And  we  say  that 
we  thus  know  that  God  is  wise  and  good,  because  these 
attributes  are  clearly  expressed  to  us  in  line  upon  line  in 
his  works.  That  this  is  no  doubtful  assertion  of  knowledge 
may  be  illustrated  as  follows  :  Were  I  to  travel  abroad 
and  arrive  at  some  to  me  unknown  and  unheard  of  coun- 
try, nearly  the  first  inquiries  to  which  I  should  address 
myself  would  be,  Is  there  any  government  in  this  country  ? 
If  so,  what  is  its  character?     Is   it  wise,  just,  humane? 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE.  1 5 

Now  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  I  might  prosecute  these 
inquiries  by  looking  about  me,  and  intelligently  observing 
what  was  done  in  connection  with  the  several  sorts  of 
conduct  of  men,  and  how  it  was  done.  Nor  will  any  man 
doubt  in  the  least  that,  after  I  had  prosecuted  these  in- 
quiries for  some  years  under  ordinarily  favorable  condi- 
tions for  seeing  and  understanding  what  was  to  be  seen, 
I  might  well  say,  without  undue  assumption  of  wisdom, 
that  I  know  this  government  to  be  powerful,  wise,  and 
just ;  or  that  it  possesses,  or  does  not  possess,  these  quali- 
ties in  such  and  such  degrees.  And  note,  too,  that,  in 
arriving  at  this  knowledge,  it  has  not  been  assumed,  nor 
implied,  that  any  part  of  it  was  obtained  from  oral  com- 
munications and  \vritten  documents ;  and  mark,  also,  that 
we  know  not  only  that  the  government  is,  but  we  know 
its  character  as  well. 

In  a  way  precisely  analogous  to  this,  we  say  that  we 
know  that  God  is,  and  that  he  is  powerful,  wise,  and  good. 
In  making  this  plain  to  such  as  may  have  doubted  it,  we 
pass  over  that  personal  revelation  of  himself  which  God 
makes  to  the  individual  soul ;  for  though  this  revelation 
is  most  convincing  to  the  individual  himself,  it  is  not 
available  for  the  convincing  of  others. 

We  ask,  now,  whether  any  man  can  live  in  this  world, 
and  look  intelligently  about  him  for  years,  and  not  observe 
expressions  of  God's  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  nearly 


1 6  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

everywhere  ?  Whoever  observes  with  any  active  thought- 
fulness  sees  the  power  of  God  revealed  superabundantly : 
through  the  embodiment  and  action  of  various  agents, 
indeed,  but  so  manifestly  not  an  original  power  with 
these  agents,  that  in  all  ages  and  everywhere  man  has 
known  and  called  it  divine.  In  like  manner  do  men 
know  God  as  wise,  through  the  multiplied  expressions  of 
his  wisdom  in  his  works.  A  few  men  have  lived  in  the 
world  who  could  charge  God  with  folly ;  or,  at  least,  with 
want  of  wisdom  in  some  part  of  his  works.  Even  these 
men  understood  many  of  the  lessons  of  God's  wisdom, 
and  stumbled  only  in  a  few  instances  ;  and  hence  they  do 
not  deny  that  God  is  generally  known  as  wise,  but  that 
he  is  universally  so  known.  As  to  the  charge  itself,  it 
involves  such  assumptions  of  knowledge  and  wisdom,  and 
concerning  the  whole  meaning  and  ends  of  things,  on  the 
part  of  him  who  makes  the  charge,  that  it  becomes  a  mark 
rather  of  his  weakness  and  rashness  than  of  his  superiority 
to  the  generality  of  men. 

And  nearly  the  same  things  may  be  said  of  the  good- 
ness of  God,  expressed  in  so  many  relations,  with  means 
to  ends  so  well  fitted  to  lead  his  creatures  to  perfection, 
and  secure  good  to  them.  As  we  thoughtfully  dwell 
upon  these  expressions  of  God's  benevolence,  and  seek 
to  interpret  them,  we  reach  as  great  assurance  of  knowl- 
edge that  God  is  good,  and  delighteth  in  doing  good,  as 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE.  17 


we  previously  had  of  the  chai-acter  of  the  government  of 
the  unknown  country  we  visited.  The  government  or 
procedure  of  God  in  this  world  as  plainly  reveals  his  char- 
acter for  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness  to  the  intelligent 
student,  as  any  government  among  men  ;  or  as  any  indi- 
vidual man  reveals  his  character  to  such  a  student.  And 
inasmuch  as  we  go  upon  assured  practical  knowledge  in 
these  last  cases,  so  may  we  with  equal  certainty  in  the 
first. 

Those  who  stumble  concerning  the  Divine  goodness  in 
particular  instances,  do  so  usually  from  looking  too  exclu- 
sively at  their  individual  happiness  —  and  this  as  immedi- 
ately affected  —  without  considering  the  more  general 
welfare,  or  even  their  o\vn  good  in  the  wider  view  of  char- 
acter and  immortality.  This  is  to  imitate  the  httle  child 
that  assumes  to  condemn  the  treatment  it  receives  from 
its  parents  by  its  own  fancies,  tastes,  and  pleasures  of  the 
hour.  No  thoughtful  student  of  God's  works,  who  duly 
appreciates  his  o^vn  imperfections  of  knowledge  and  char- 
acter, will  fail  to  exclaim  ^\dth  St.  Paul,  "  Oh,  the  depth  of 
the  riches  both  of  tiie  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  ! 
How  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past 
finding  out !  "  No  such  student  will  ever  think  of  pro- 
posing  amendments  to  either  the  wisdom  or  goodness  of 
God's  works ;  nor  \\ill  he  doubt  that  he  knows  God,  or 
that  the  God  he  knows  is  both  wise  and  good. 


1 8     THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

We  have  space  that  will  permit  us  to  draw  only  a  few 
inferences  from  the  principles  now  laid  down ;  and  first  of 
all  take  this  :  Inasmuch  as  we  are  able  to  say  on  good 
and  trustworthy  grounds  that  God  is  mighty,  we  are  war- 
ranted both  by  the  Scriptures  and  by  Philosophy  to  go  on 
and  infer  that  he  is  Almighty.  We  accept  this  inference, 
and  find  confirmation  of  our  faith  in  the  facts  of  the 
material  universe  ;  and  in  the  facts  and  experiences,  also, 
of  the  mental  and  spiritual  realms.  We  have  not  said, 
and  we  shall  not  say,  that  we  k?iow  God  as  Almighty, 
for  such  knowledge  transcends  our  powers ;  but  we  do 
know  him  as  mighty,  and  we  hdcve  faith  in  him  as  Almighty. 
In  like  manner  we  know  that  God  is  wise.  We  see  and 
understand  in  a  thousand  things  and  relations  the  wisdom 
in  y^hich  he  reveals  himself,  and  we  do  not  hesitate  to 
assert  our  knowledge.  Now  we  go  further,  and  infer  his 
omniscience.  This  inference,  too,  is  well  grounded,  and 
we  assert  undoubting/^///?  in  God's  infinite  wisdom. 

;It  is  by  a  procedure  in  all  respects  similar  that  we  infer, 
beyond  our  knowledge  that  God  is  good,  that  his  good- 
ness is  perfect.  By  perfect  goodness  we  understand  that 
which  is  good  in  every  purpose  and  act  of  him  who  is 
thus  good.  We  kno7v  that  God  is  good  in  many  of  his 
purposes  and  acts  ;  and  now,  by  the  authority  of  the  Bible 
and  of  all  that  we  otherwise  know  of  the  universe,  we 
h3Nt  faith  that  he  is  perfectly  good,  —  good  in  every  pur- 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE.  1 9 

pose  and  act.  While,  therefore,  we  kfww  that  God  is 
powerful,  wise,  and  good,  by  faith  we  worship  him  as 
almighty,  all-wise,  and  perfect  in  goodness  :  and  this  faith 
has  the  warrant  of  the  Scriptures,  and  of  the  soundest 
Philosophy. 

Another  inference  that  may  be  drawn  from  all  that  we 
know  of  God,  is  his  constant  activity  in  the  affairs  of  the 
universe ;  and,  more  especially,  in  all  that  part  of  it  which 
includes  man,  and  the  things  pertaining  to  man.  Wisdom 
implies  care,  thoughtfulness,  deliberation  in  all  purposes 
and  in  the  pursuit  of  them.  And  goodness  has  no  mean- 
ing, if  it  does  not  imply  a  care  for  and  attention  to  what- 
soever things  affect  the  well-being  of  the  objects  of  this 
goodness.  Hence,  God,  as  wise  and  good,  has  an  ever 
active  interest  and  care  for  the  good  of  his  creatures ;  but 
more  especially  for  ??ian,  whom  he  has  peculiarly  endowed, 
and  subjected  to  a  peculiar  law.  This  ever  present  ac- 
tivity and  thoughtfulness  of  the  Divine  wisdom  and  good- 
ness assures  us  that  all  God's  purposes  and  acts  relative 
to  man  are  benevolent  in  design  and  effective  in  execu- 
tion. We  are  not  able  to  go  beyond  this,  and  deduce 
how  God  will  act  in  this  or  that  particular  case,  or  how 
he  will  deal  mth  this  or  that  particular  man  in  such  and 
such  particular  circumstances.  When  we  attempt  deduc- 
tions like  these,  we  approach  dangerously  near  to  pre- 
sumption, and  are  too  apt  to  become  fault-finders  before 


20  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSAL  IS  31. 

God.  But  our  faith  is  warranted  and  trustworthy,  that, 
whether  or  not  we  can  see  through  the  particular  act  or 
providence  to  the  intention  and  end  of  Divine  goodness, 
it  is  none  the  less  certainly  good.  By  faith  we  accept 
this  inference,  and  "  Praise  the  Lord  for  his  goodness,  and 
for  his  wonderful  works  to  the  children  of  men,"  even 
when  we  fail  to  see  through  his  methods  to  the  Divine 
consummation. 

Again,  we  infer  from  what  we  know  of  God's  holiness, 
and  of  his  moral  government,  and  of  the  law  written  in 
the  consciences  of  men,  that  he  hates  sin,  and  can  have 
no  concord  with  it,  or  with  the  works  it  prompts.  This 
knowledge  of  God's  holiness  has  abundant  support  every- 
where, and  will  not  be  called  in  question  by  any ;  and, 
granting  the  premises,  our  conclusion  cannot  be  denied. 
This  is  a  most  important  inference  of  the  Divine  proced- 
ure, and  will  bear  a  little  amplification.  Our  inference, 
then,  makes  it  plain  that  God  is  in  no  sense  the  author 
or  abettor  of  sin.  God  never  planned  it,  nor  did  he  ever 
purpose  aught  that  required  sin  as  a  means  for  its  accom- 
plishment, or  that  depended  on  sin  as  a  means  to  its  end. 
Sin  is  of  God  in  no  proper  sense.  His  whole  relation  to 
it,  and  action  towards  it,  is  and  ever  has  been  antagonism, 
resistance.  And  this  accords  perfectly  with  what  we  know 
of  ourselves  as  the  authors  of  our  own  sins.  In  con- 
sciousness we  know  ourselves  to  be  the  sinners ;  we  are 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE.  21 

tempted  and  we  sin,  and  by  just  consequence  experience 
the  guiit  of  sin.  All  this  is  personal  knowledge  to  men 
as  sinners,  and  we  know  that  our  sins  are  not  of  God. 
When  God  created  man  with  a  moral  nature,  which  only 
made  it  possible  for  man  to  sin,  he  subjected  him  to  the 
moral  law  and  forbade  him  to  sin.  God  also  warned  man 
of  the  consequences  of  disobedience,  —  warned  him  that 
he  would  resist  and  punish  whomsoever  should  turn  into 
the  ways  of  iniquity.  God  has  kept  his  word,  and  been 
true  to  holiness  in  all  his  dealings  with  sinners.  He  hates 
sin,  and  he  resists  and  punishes  it ;  and  by  an  active  and 
benevolent  providence  he  has  wrought  to  save  sinners, 
to  make  an  end  of  sinning,  and  to  bring  men  to  virtue 
and  peace  with  God.  So  much  we  may  know  of  the 
Divine  procedure  in  relation  to  sin  and  sinners.  God  is 
hostile  to  sin ;  he  has  no  purposes  to  serve  by  it ;  never 
gave  his  consent  to  it ;  forbade  it  at  the  first,  and  has 
steadfastly  resisted  it  ever  since ;  and  he  has  assured  us 
that  he  can  never  accept  it,  nor  become  reconciled  to  it. 
All  this  means  that  there  shall  be  an  end  of  it  in  the 
moral  universe.  God's  power,  wisdom,  goodness,  and 
holiness  are  all  assured  pledges  of  this  result ;  for,  as  God 
lives,  sin  must  be  ended,  and  universal  righteousness 
brought  in  :  and  this  good  work  is  going  forward  under 
his  ever  active  providence. 

Here,  then,  our  inferences  from  the  goodness  and  holi- 


2  2     THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

ness  of  God  run  up  together  into  the  assured  prophecy 
and  promise  that  sin  shall  be  destroyed  through  the  con- 
version and  salvation  of  all  sinners,  and  the  ultimate  bring- 
ing of  them  to  holiness  and  perfection.  This  shows  us 
God  as  the  Father  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  our 
inquiries  lead  us  on  from  the  knowledge  of  God  as  holy, 
just,  and  good,  to  the  recognition  and  worship  of  him  as 
the  Father,  of  whom  and  to  whom  are  all  things.  And 
so  we  conclude  where  we  began,  by  repeating  that  as 
Universalists,  "  To  us  there  is  but  one  God,  the  Father." 


HUMAN  NATURE.  23 


HUMAN   NATURE,   ITS   CAPABILITIES. 

BY  J.   H.   TUTTLE,  D.D. 

'T^HE  oracle  who,  when  asked  by  Chilo,  "  What  is  of 
"^  all  things  the  best?"  answered,  "Know  thyself," 
might  have  made  the  same  reply  if  the  question  had  been, 
"What  is  of  all  things  the  most  difficult?"  And  yet  as 
there  is  nothing  with  which  we  have  lived  longer,  nor  on 
more  intimate  terms,  than  with  ourself,  what  ought  we  to 
know  more  thoroughly?  But  this  neaxness  to  the  prime 
object  of  knowledge  is  perhaps  one  of  the  causes  of  our 
ignorance,  since  we  are  apt  to  suppose  the  most  interest- 
ing things  are  farthest  off.  Curiosity  is  dulled  by  constant 
contact  with  its  object.  "  We  take  more  notice  of  other 
ships  than  of  the  one  on  which  we  are  sailing." 

Besides,  the  conditions  under  which  the  mind  appre- 
hends its  o\vn  states  and  powers  render  self-knowledge, 
difficult ;  for  in  this  case  the  knower  and  the  things  to 
be  known  are  the  same.  To  obtain  self-knowledge  it 
seems  to  be  necessary  that  the  knowing  faculty  should  be 
capable  of  detaching  itself  partially,  for  the  moment,  from 
other  parts  of  the  mind,  and  holding  them  off  in  favorable 


24  THE  LATEST   WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

perspective  ;  and  how  is  such  a  mental  feat  possible  ?  Were 
they  intellectually  endowed,  how  could  the  ocean  report 
its  own  ebb '  and  flow,  and  the  clock  describe  its  own 
mechanism?  However,  "that  the  soul  does  know  itself," 
says  President  Porter,  "and  confides  in  the  knowledge 
thus  attained,  will  be  acknowledged  by  every  one."  How 
this  is  accomplished  is  not  for  us,  but  for  the  metaphysician 
and  psychologist,  to  ascertain.  The  above  author  says 
also,  "  No  real  knowledge  of  the  soul  is  gained  except  by 
turning  the  gaze  inward."  The  qualities  and  powers  of 
human  nature  are  such,  of  course,  as  we  find  to  be  com- 
mon to  mankind ;  that  is,  such  as  we  have  discovered, 
first  in  ourselves,  and  afterwards  met  with  everywhere  in 
the  world  about  us.  Certain  other  persons  who  have  the 
rare  gift  of  interpretation  and  of  expression  may  describe 
our  thoughts  and  feelings  better  than  we ;  but  we  must 
first  know  what  they  are,  before  we  can  be  sure  they  are 
described  correctly.  "  Come,"  said  the  Samaritan  woman, 
"  see  a  man  which  told  me  all  things  that  I  ever  did  :  is 
not  this  the  Christ?  "  He  held  the  mirror  up  before  her ; 
she  saw  the  reflection  and  recognized  herself.  Shakspeare, 
the  most  marvellous  of  all  uninspired  delineators  in  this 
department  of  knowledge,  sketches  little  for  us  that  we 
have  not  experienced ;  and  because  we  have  experienced 
it,  we  know  it  to  be  the  truth.  He  addresses  us  intelli- 
gently, because  he  writes  out  of  himself. 


HUMAN  NATURE.  25 


Comprehensively,  human  nature  is  Man  —  Man  in  his 
several  parts,  and  in  his  sum  total.  Hence  a  mighty  task 
is  assigned  to  him  who  is  asked  to  make  but  the  simplest 
diagram  of  the  subject  before  us.  Only  a  few  outlines 
are  possible,  in  any  ordinary  space  :  the  sketch  might 
be  suggestive,  if  properly  drawTi ;  the  filling  up  must  be 
left  to  the  intelhgent  reader. 

Foremost  among  the  characteristics  of  human  nature 
is  its  Oneness. 

The  statement  of  Paul  to  the  Athenians  from  the  sum- 
mit of  the  Areopagus,  that  God  "  hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men,"  is  abundantly  verified  by  facts  col- 
lected from  the  history  of  mankind.  The  reports  from 
all  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  from  all  ages  of  the  world, 
touching  this  matter,  form  a  mass  of  concurrent  testimony 
favoring  the  doctrine  of  a  common  human  brotherhood 
too  formidable  to  be  resisted  by  any  but  the  most  scepti- 
cal. It  does  not  seem  important,  so  far  as  this  doctrine 
is  concerned,  whether  the  human  race  originated  in  one 
pair  or  in  several  pairs  ;  nor  whether  the  evolution  theory 
be  correct,  —  since  the  universal  identity  of  blood  might 
have  been  preserved  in  either  case.  We  have  but  one 
Father,  whatever  may  have  been  the  process,  or  processes, 
which  brought  us  into  being.  The  Divine  energy  from 
which  we  sprang,  however  remote  or  however  near  in  its 
beginning,  and  however  much  it  may  have  separated  and 


2  6     THE  LATEST   WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

meandered  in  those  intervals  preceding  our  conscious  ex- 
istence, could  have  had  but  one  source.  This  is  evident, 
since  human  nature  everywhere  presents  one  organism, 
one  schedule  of  wants,  tendencies,  properties,  and  desires. 
Whether  we  touch  humanity  in  Asia,  Africa,  Europe,  or 
America,  we  touch  the  same  thing.  A  thin  alluvium  of 
individualism  covers  each  one  of  us,  but  beneath  is  the 
primitive  rock  on  which  we  were  all  built.  The  external 
differences,  —  such  as  complexion,  language,  habits,  pur- 
suits, and  even  the  slight  modifications  of  physical  form 
which  occur  through  the  influence  of  climate  and  manner 
of  living,  —  are  not  human  nature,  any  more  than  the  hat 
and  clothes  a  man  wears  are  the  man  himself.  We  have 
the  authority  of  the  author  of  Locksley  Hall  for  saying,  — 

**  In  the  spring,  a  fuller  crimson  comes  upon  the  robin's  breast ; 
In  the  spring,  the  wanton  lapwing  gets  himself  another  crest,"  — 

but  this  donning  of  brighter  vernal  costumes  does  not 
interfere  with  the  internal  character  of  these  birds.  The 
enlarged  thyroid  gland  observed  among  certain  Swiss 
peasantry  has  not  separated  its  unfortunate  wearers  from 
the  brotherhood  of  neighboring  folk,  who  by  a  more  favor- 
able locality  have  escaped  this  physical  infliction.  Nor 
are  the  mental,  social,  moral,  and  religious  diversities  ex- 
hibited, proof  against  the  oneness  of  human  nature  ;  since 
these  also  are  produced  by  corresponding  differences  of 


HUMAN  NATURE.  27 

locality,  education,  opportunities  for  culture,  &c.  That 
which  stunted  the  body  of  the  Labrador  Indian  induced 
at  the  same  time  a  dwarfing  of  his  intellect.  The  cir- 
cumstances which  placed  the  Feejee  on  his  South  Sea 
island,  kept  him  from  opportunities  which  might  have 
given  him  the  culture  and  poUsh  of  a  son  of  Harvard 
College.  Chronology  and  Geography  together  can  ac- 
count for  much  of  the  difference  between  the  Fetichism 
of  certain  African  tribes  and  the  Christianity  of  New 
England.  If  certain  low  tribes  of  people  have  been  dis- 
covered (as  is  alleged)  by  Lubbock  and  others,  in  whom 
traits  of  character  generally  considered  essential  to  hu- 
man nature  appear  to  be  wanting,  —  such,  for  instance,  as 
morality,  rehgion,  a  perception  of  right  and  wrong,  —  we 
suggest,  in  reply  to  this,  that  these  are  simply  cases  where 
the  attributes  referred  to  are  still  latent.  Some  plants  do 
not  blossom  until  the  second  or  third  year,  —  the  Century 
plant,  as  its  name  indicates,  until  after  a  great  number  of 
years,  —  but  the  germ  of  the  flower  is  present  from  the  start. 
Modern  facilities  for  travel,  for  becoming  acquainted 
with  foreign  countries,  have  awakened  an  immense  interest 
in  Ethnology  and  Ethnography,  and  opened  a  way  also 
for  comparing  one  people  with  another,  both  as  they 
now  appear,  and  have  appeared,  since  the  earliest  records  ; 
and  the  result,  we  feel  safe  in  saying,  has  been  a  complete 
surprise  to  most  persons,  in  the  parallels,  likenesses,  and 


28     THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

even  samenesses  it  shows.  The  mass  of  relics  gathered 
from  the  ruins  of  Babylon  and  Nineveh,  from  Egyptian 
tombs,  from  the  ashes  of  Pompeii,  from  Ilium  and  Cyprus, 
and  from  Indian  mounds  in  America,  prove,  when  com- 
pared with  things  now  in  use,  to  have  been  constructed 
and  employed  by  peoples  who  lived  and  thought,  enjoyed 
and  suffered,  loved  and  hated,  very  much  as  the  present 
inhabitants  of  the  earth  do.  The  kitchens  in  Herculaneum 
were  hung  with  utensils  our  modern  house-servants  might 
readily  recognize.  Diomede's  children  played  with  toys 
our  juveniles  are  familiar  with.  The  courts  of  Sennach- 
erib, the  halls  of  Sardanapalus,  suggest  that  these  Assyrian 
monarchs  were  cast  in  the  same  mould  with  the  present 
rulers  of  Turkey  and  Egypt.  The  personal  ornaments  of 
which  Helen  and  Andromache  were  proud,  would  seem 
hardly  out  of  place  in  the  modern  boudoir  of  a  French 
or  Spanish  queen. 

The  oneness  of  human  nature  is  indicated  also  in  the 
common  interest  of  mankind  in  the  same  literature,  senti- 
ments, appeals  to  passion,  and  the  hke.  The  legends, 
stories,  proverbs,  poetic  conceptions,  current  among  any 
people  now,  seem  to  have  originated  in  kindred  sources, 
to  have  descended  from  remote  periods,  and  to  have 
drifted  about  always  as  universal  property. 

Investigations  in  Philology  demonstrate  a  vast  and  inti- 
mate fellowship  of  languages.     Various  nations  come  for- 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


29 


ward  to  share  in  the  originality  of  nearly  every  invention. 
Every  great  thought  has  so  many  claimants  that  the  wisest 
chancery  of  critics  is  puzzled  to  decide  to  whom  it  be- 
longs. We  imagine  we  have  at  last  hit  upon  a  new  idea, 
but  some  erudite  Cesnoli  by  and  by  drags  it  forth  from  the 
dust  of  centuries,  and  offers  it  to  a  museum  of  intellectual 
antiquities.  So  the  world  ever  "  hums  the  old  well-known 
air  through  innumerable  variations." 

"Speak  your  latest  conviction,"  says  Emerson,  "and  it 
shall  be  the  universal  sense."  Dante  wrote  this  "  universal 
sense  "  in  his  poems ;  Shakspeare  in  his  plays  ;  Dickens  in 
his  novels ;  even  Howard  Payne  in  his  "  Sweet  Home." 
Raphael  painted  it  in  his  Madonnas ;  Angelo  carved  it 
in  stone.  The  author  of  Oliver  Twist  gathered  his  char- 
acters from  the  streets  of  London,  but  they  answer  as  well 
for  New  York  or  Boston.  The  perfume  of  the  pudding 
at  Bob  Cratchit's  Christmas  dinner  is  not  more  like  the 
flavored  effervescence  which  rises  from  our  tables  on  this 
festival  day,  than  the  human  nature  of  Dickens's  books  is 
like  human  nature  all  over  the  world.  The  passions  which 
appear  on  the  stage  of  any  really  classical  romance,  act 
the  life  of  universal  humanity;  and  universal  humanity 
applauds  or  condemns. 

What  hopes  are  to  be  based  on  the  oneness  of  human 
nature  ?  Why  should  we  desire  to  beUeve  this  doctrine 
rather  than  the  opposite  ? 


30  THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

If  assured  of  the  oneness  of  human  nature,  we  always 
know  exactly,  no  matter  where  we  meet  mankind,  what 
we  have  to  deal  with ;  that  is,  we  know  we  are  dealing 
always  with  the  same  thing,  and  that  what  is  predicated 
of  one  portion  of  the  race  may  be  of  another.  If  human 
nature  be  one,  then  one  key  unlocks  all  hearts.  The 
same  ethics,  the  same  religion,  the  same  methods  of  educa- 
tion, answer  for  all ;  the  same  Saviour  may  save  all.  To 
handle  one  mind  is  to  have  caught  the  secret  of  managing 
the  masses.  To  elevate  one  soul  is  to  have  begun  a 
process  which,  if  wisely  applied  and  perseveringly  con- 
tinued, must  lift  society  finally  to  its  proper  place.  As  he 
himself,  the  chief  of  sinners,  had  been  saved,  Paul  saw 
the  way  was  clear  for  saving  his  fellow-race ;  for,  placed 
in  the  same  range  with  "  all  men,"  the  influences  which 
were  sweeping  him  toward  heaven  must  carry  them  along 
also.  The  oneness  of  human  nature  could  hardly  have 
escaped  his  attention  when  he  wrote  :  "  There  is  one 
body,  and  one  spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope 
of  your  calling :  one  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism ;  one 
God  and  Father  of  all."  It  is  as  much  a  mistake  to  sup- 
pose Christianity  was  a  new  religion,  as  to  suppose  human 
nature  was  changed  at  Christ's  birth.  Externally  the 
Mosaic  and  Christian  dispensations  differed;  internally 
they  were  identical :  Love  was  the  essence  of  both.  Love 
is  an  eternal  principle  in  God,  and  appeals  to  an  eternal 
faculty  in  man  :  to  a  universal  faculty  also. 


HUMAN  NATURE.  3 1 


We  reason  from  the  oneness  of  human  nature  that 
what  the  most  advanced  man,  or  most  advanced  nation, 
has  attained  is  attainable  by  all  men  and  all  nations. 
Paul,  Marcus  Aurelius,  Milton,  Luther,  Agassiz,  and  thou- 
sands of  other  geniuses  whose  names  shine  in  the  galaxy 
of  history,  were  endowed  with  no  faculties  which  God  has 
not  given  to  every  one  of  his  children  :  they  grew  out 
of  the  soil  in  which  all  men  have  been  planted.  We  each 
shared  in  the  inexpressible  pride  and  delight  resulting 
from  an  examination  of  the  Exposition  at  Philadelphia, 
because  we  felt  that  it  was  the  fruit  of  forces  common  to 
us  all ;  we  turned  away  from  the  magnificent  spectacle, 
even  the  humblest  of  us,  with  new  faith  in  man,  and  there- 
fore with  new  faith  in  ourselves ;  with  new  resolves  to 
apply  ourselves  more  earnestly  in  a  world  of  such  universal 
gifts.  Emerson  calls  attention  to  the  remark  of  some  one 
who  said  :  "  When  I  read  Homer,  all  men  seem  like  giants." 
Might  he  not  have  added  :  "  When  I  read  Homer,  I  my- 
self feel  like  a  giant"?  There  is,  indeed,  an  enormous 
interval  between  the  most  ignorant  and  most  learned  man  ; 
but  time  and  opportunity  may  cancel  it. 

If  human  nature  be  one  in  its  origin,  it  is  likely  to  be 
one  in  its  destiny.  Beginning  in  unity,  why  should  it  not 
continue  so  for  ever  ?  It  seems  to  have  been  planned  to 
remain  eternally  inseparable.  Its  parts  interpenetrate  each 
other  to  such  an  extent,  are  so  interwoven,  interlocked. 


32  THE  LATEST    WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

and  even  welded,  that  to  dispart  it  is  to  ruin  it.  If  a  ship- 
builder, while  building  his  vessel,  were  to  contemplate  the 
loss  of  a  large  portion  of  it  during  its  voyage,  he  would 
naturally  constmct  it  in  such  a  way  that  the  part  to  be 
submerged  and  lost  might  go  down  without  taking  the 
rest  with  it ;  and  hence,  having  bound  every  part  as 
securely  as  possible  to  every  other  part,  making  the  whole 
a  solid,  compact  unit  of  timber  and  iron  and  cordage, 
we  unavoidably  conclude  he  designed  it  to  remain  so, 
whatever  storms  it  might  encounter  or  whatever  wrench- 
ings  it  might  receive,  —  that  it  should  go  into  its  destined 
port  intact.  Thus,  if  it  clearly  appear  that  God  made  the 
human  race  a  solidarity,  formed  such  a  close  fellowship 
of  souls,  of  families,  and  nations,  that  dismembering  it  is 
destroying  it,  how  can  we  doubt  that  he  intended  one 
destiny  for  it  ?  We  have  all  embarked  on  the  same  ship, 
and  if  one  end  of  our  ship  sinks  in  endless  perdition  the 
other  end  must  follow,  since  the  Almighty  has  prepared 
against  any  break  in  the  middle.  The  larger  portion  of 
the  passengers  may  perhaps  occupy  the  steerage,  and  be 
reckoned  as  second  class ;  nevertheless,  the  wave  that 
sweeps  them  out  to  their  death  must  wreck  the  cabin  also, 
even  the  officers'  rooms. 

The  laws  of  our  individual  being,  and  of  society,  com- 
pel us  to  seek  the  happiness  of  our  fellow-men  in  order 
to  secure  our  own.     Parents  cannot,  if  they  would,  sepa- 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


2>Z 


rate  their  own  and  their  children's  interests ;  nor  can 
brothers  and  sisters  be  indifferent  to  each  other's  welfare 
without  inflicting  harm  on  themselves.  This  heavenly 
ordained  co-partnership  of  the  family  holds,  although  in 
a  less  palpable  form  perhaps,  in  the  world  at  large.  No 
nation  can  rise  \\ithout  lifting,  more  or  less,  other  nations 
with  it ;  none  can  fall  without  pulling  others  down  with  it. 
While  we  are  writing,  the  French  people  are  opening 
in  Paris,  with  all  possible  edat,  the  seventh  World's  Fair  ; 
and  this  is  being  done  in  apparent  indifference  to  the 
fact  that  neighboring  nations,  some  of  them,  are  engaged 
in  preparations  of  a  bloody  sort :  but  it  requires  only 
a  moment's  reflection  to  discover  that  the  splendid 
scenes  transpiring  on  the  F/ace  of  the  Champ  de  Mars 
must  lack  their  full  measure  of  glory  from  the  want  of 
that  sympathy  and  co-operation  they  would  have  re- 
ceived, but  for  the  distractions  caused  by  the  threatening 
attitudes  of  England  and  Russia  toward  each  other.  The 
awful  shadow  of  war  spreading  across  Europe  throws 
into  partial  eclipse  that  royal  pageant  of  industry  and 
art ;  and  its  lesson,  sad  though  it  be  in  the  main,  will 
have  at  least  one  encouraging  feature,  if  it  shall  teach  the 
multitudes  assembled  at  the  Exposition  to  remember 
henceforth  that  Europe,  as  well  as  every  other  family 
of  nations,  must  rise  or  fall  together ;  that  war  curses, 
and  peace  blesses,  the  whole  land,  be  it  never  so  wide. 

3 


34       THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSAL  ISM. 

The  agitating  questions  of  national  diplomacy  continually 
rising  between  governments,  the  important  and  difficult 
tasks  laid  upon  consuls  and  ministers  plenipotentiary, 
show  that  these  governments  are  united  by  indissoluble 
ties,  and  that  £  Pluribiis  Unum  might  rationally  be 
adopted  as  a  universal  motto. 

The  American  people  might  have  thought,  at  first,  that 
it  had  been  offered  a  rare  opportunity  to  indulge  in 
national  selfishness,  since  it  had  found  and  settled  upon 
a  comparatively  isolated  continent,  with  the  prospect  of 
continuing  undisturbed  by  other  and  less  favored  popu- 
lations ;  but  no  sooner  was  its  success  apparent,  than 
there  were  sent  to  it  multitudes  from  every  kingdom, 
monarchy,  and  empire  of  the  Old  World,  bringing  with 
them  so  much  poverty,  and  such  adverse  politics  and 
religions,  that  they  threatened  to  overburden  and  destroy 
the  new  attempt  to  establish  a  republican  government. 
But  it  has  done  no  good  to  complain.  We  cannot  shake 
off  foreigners  if  we  try ;  and  we  ought  not  to  wish  to  do 
it.  God  has  ordered  that  our  chance  shall  be  the 
chance  of  all  who  please  to  come ;  that  our  spare  acres 
shall  make  homes  for  them  \  that  our  institutions  shall 
educate,  foster,  and  protect  them  ;  that  we  shall  be  one. 
So  it  has  happened  that  the  nation  which  calls  itself  most 
independent  is  least  so ;  that  its  ballot-box  is  besieged 
by  the  ignorance  and  superstition  of  every  country  on 


HUMAN  NATURE.  35 


earth  ;  that  its  quiet  Puritan  Sabbath  is  broken  in  upon  by 
noisy  crowds  and  brass-bands.  Let  it  be  so.  God  is  teach- 
ing us  how  to  practise  our  doctrine  of  a  common  brother- 
hood. He  is  showing  us  that  we  cannot  enter  the  paradise 
of  freedom  without  taking  the  world  along  with  us. 

This  universal  solidarity  providentially  forced  upon 
mankind  in  the  present  world,  must  continue  in  the 
world  to  come.  If  families,  neighborhoods,  nations,  walk 
arm  in  arm  here,  and  cannot,  even  when  they  would, 
break  away  entirely  from  one  another,  what  shall  separate 
them  there,  where  union  and  affection  is  of  infinitely 
more  account?  If  it  be  said  it  is  inconceivable  how 
the  righteous  can  be  happy  in  the  future  life,  except 
they  be  permitted  to  withdraw  by  themselves,  to  sepa- 
rate themselves  from  any  association,  or  sympathy  or  in- 
terest with  the  opposite  class,  we  reply  that  it  is  more 
inconceivable  how  they  can  desire  heaven  on  such 
conditions,  since  it  is  the  very  essence  of  righteousness, 
as  well  as  of  pure  human  nature,  to  labor  and  suffer 
for  the  unrighteous.  We  never  knew  a  person  who, 
in  the  exercise  of  his  highest  manhood,  asked  or  ex- 
pected or  desired  to  be  relieved  from  the  sight  and 
thought  of  his  suffering  fellow-men.  Howard  voluntarily 
spent  his  time  in  visiting  and  helping  the  \\Tetched 
inmates  of  prisons ;  and  if  there  had  been  any  Lethe  in 
which  he  could  have  dropped  his  weary  body  and  for- 


36     THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

gotten  the  misery  he  sought  to  alleviate,  he  would  have 
scorned  the  offer  of  its  waters.  And  can  we  imagine  this 
noble  philanthropist  so  changed  as  to  be  content  in  a 
heaven  which  maintains  its  existence  by  selfishly  ignoring 
the  woes  of  the  lost  ?  "  Remember  them  that  are  in 
bonds  as  bound  with  them."  "The  exclusive  in  fash- 
ionable life,"  says  Emerson,  "  does  not  see  that  he 
excludes  himself  from  enjoyment  in  the  attempt  to 
appropriate  it.  The  exclusionist  in  religion  does  not  see 
that  he  shuts  the  door  of  heaven  on  himself  in  striving  to 
shut  out  others."  There  is  but  one  privilege  greater 
than  rejoicing  with  those  who  rejoice,  —  which  is  to  weep 
with  those  who  weep.  To  suffer  with  the  suffering,  to 
aid  them,  to  hope  for  their  prosperity,  constitute  a  large 
part  of  our  o\\ti  blessedness ;  hence  by  the  law  of  our 
own  being,  and  by  the  law  of  the  Gospel,  a  perfect 
heaven  here  or  hereafter  is  impossible,  except  it  include 
all  mankind.  There  will,  we  trust,  be  less  need  and  less 
material  for  a  Chinese  wall  of  selfishness  in  the  next  life 
than  in  this. 

"  Is  heaven  so  high 

That  pity  cannot  breathe  its  air  ? 
Its  happy  eyes  for  ever  dry, 

Its  holy  lips  without  a  prayer! 
My  God !     My  God  !  if  thither  led 

By  thy  free  grace  unmerited, 
No  crown  nor  palm  be  mine,  but  let  me  keep 
A  heart  that  still  can  feel,  and  eyes  that  still  can  weep," 


HUMAN  NATURE.  37 


Human  nature  is  not  absolute  but  relative  ;  therefore 
its  potentialities,  whatever  they  may  be,  do  not  lie  wholly 
in  itself.     We  cannot  judge  of  its  capabilities  in  any  elab- 
orate sense  except  in  connection  with  its  surroundings  ; 
and  with   the  Divine  nature  in  which  it  was  born,  and 
by  which   it  is  sustained,  taught,  and  controlled.     Man 
naturally   loves,  hence   must  have   objects  on  which  to 
bestow  his  love;  and  these   objects,  according  to   their 
nature  and  power,  must  benefit  or  injure,  enlarge  or  dwarf 
him.    He   has  a  conscience;    he  has  religious  faculties, 
—  and   these  suggest   a  Supreme  Being  to  whom  he   is 
accountable,  and  whose  child  he  is.     What  he  is,  there- 
fore, especially  what  he  is  to  be,  cannot  be  fully  ascertained 
by  studying  his  own   inherent   powers,   since   these   are 
and  must  always  continue  to  be  subject  to  circumstances, 
to  hmitations  imposed  on  them  by  their  Creator.     The 
statue  of  Moses  in  the  San  Pietro  in  Vinculi,  at  Rome, 
reveals  both  the  excellent  quality  of  the  rock  from  which 
it  was  carved  and  the  consummate  skill  of  the  sculptor ; 
without  the  other,  neither  could  have  been.     A  flaw  in 
the  marble  would  have  foiled  the  purpose  of  the  artist, 
while    the    most  perfect   block   could   never   have   been 
transformed  into  such  a  grand  symmetrical  figure  by  a 
less   skilful   chisel  than   Angelo's.      Human  nature   is  a 
quarry ;  God  is  the  infinite  artist  through  whose  hands  the 
rough  blocks  are  to  pass  :  the  question,  then,  as  to  the 


38     THE  LATEST   WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

capabilities  of  man,  as  to  his  future,  is  held  in  abeyance 
to  the  design  of  God  in  reference  to  them. 

Our  illustration,  however,  should  not  be  understood 
as  implying  that  man  is  as  passive  in  the  hands  of  God 
as  the  marble  before  the  sculptor.  Man  is  endowed  with 
wonderful  faculties ;  with  power  to  will,  to  think,  and  to 
act.  He  is  impelled  onward  and  upward  by  internal  for- 
ces, by  his  own  thoughts,  feelings,  and  desires  ;  but  these, 
to  be  effective,  must  be  met,  stimulated,  enlightened,  and 
guided  by  divine  influences.  Paul  set  forth  both  sides  of 
this  truth  when  he  wrote  :  "  Work  out  your  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling ;  for  it  is  God  that  worketh  in 
you,  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure."  We 
are  not  machines  ;  we  are  not  inanimate  stones  ;  and  yet 
we  should  be  little  better,  did  not  God  work  in  us  and 
with  us. 

Time  also  stands  in  responsible  relation  to  the  capa- 
bilities of  human  nature.  The  geologist  asks  for  time  to 
account  for,  and  to  explain,  the  history  of  the  earth.  We 
require  this  same  factor  to  solve  the  problem  of  man's 
power  and  destiny.  His  nature  is  at  first  "  without  form, 
and  void,"  as  the  world  was ;  and  not  until  the  "  spirit  of 
God "  has  moved  over  its  deep  possibilities,  does  it 
emerge  into  visible  being,  and  take  its  proper  form  and 
beauty.  Its  days,  like  the  days  of  the  Creation,  need  to 
be   stretched   into  indefinite  periods.     Measureless   ages 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


39 


intervene  between  the  beginning  and  the  perfecting.  The 
first  human  pair,  whoever,  wherever,  or  whenever  they 
were,  had  in  them  the  germs  of  all  the  race  has  since 
become  ;  but  it  required  uncounted  generations  for  these 
seeds  to  grow  and  yield  the  rich  har\'ests  of  our  present 
civilization.  Hence  the  argument,  had  there  been  any, 
held  over  those  incipient  souls  regarding  their  latent 
powers,  would  have  had  but  insignificant  ground  to  stand 
on,  without  taking  into  account  the  interminable  future  ; 
and  without  following  in  imagination  the  stream  of  moral 
and  mental  activities  starting  in  these  nascent  faculties, 
in  their  ever  widening,  ever  deepening,  channel  down  to 
the  remotest  ages.  And  if  the  forces  which  produced 
a  Bacon  or  a  Washington  began  in  the  least  of  the 
infusoria,  or  in  a  still  earlier  infinitesimal  particle  of 
protoplasm  or  bioplasm,  as  some  scientists  afiirm,  the 
necessity  of  an  Infinite  intelligence  to  superintend  the 
process  leading  to  such  far  off  and  mighty  results  is 
immensely  enhanced ;  while  we  have  a  still  more  striking 
illustration  of  the  part  Time  plays  in  the  drama  of  human 
progress. 

We  are  permitted  to  have  a  tolerably  adequate  compre- 
hension of  what  man  has  already  accomplished.  The 
fruits  of  his  past  existence  are  before  us ;  we  may  count 
up  the  successes  of  separate  minds,  and  of  the  combined 
race ;  and  if  these  fruits  as  a  whole  are  not  satisfactory, 


40  THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

it  is  only  because  our  ideal  of  what  man  is  capable,  and 
should  have  done,  is  very  exalted.  Every  one  will  at 
least  confess  to  considerable  pride  at  the  magnitude  of 
certain  individual  attainments.  No  one  thinks  of  Moses, 
Plato,  Paul,  Galileo,  Columbus,  Lincoln,  without  pleas- 
urable wonder  that  they  could  have  achieved  so  much ; 
and  could  we  hope  that  all  men  will  finally  ascend  to  such 
heights  of  knowledge  and  usefulness,  our  joy  and  grati- 
fication would  be  complete.  And  why  should  we  lack 
this  assurance,  while  all  the  factors  necessary  to  produce 
it  are  present,  —  namely,  God,  Human  Nature,  and  Time  ? 
God  supplies  the  awakening  power,  the  light,  the  oppor- 
unity ;  Human  Nature  the  unlimited  material  to  work 
upon  and  with ;  Time  the  necessary  space  in  which  to 
effect  these  results.  Hence  there  is  ground  for  believ- 
ing that  the  whole  race  will  finally  be  brought  up  to  the 
highest  mark  yet  reached  by  the  greatest  mind.  There 
is  more  probability  now  that  all  men  will  become  Ba- 
cons intellectually,  and  St.  Johns  morally  and  spiritually, 
than  there  was  once  that  one  man  would  ever  become 
a  Bacon  or  a  St.  John.  What  could  have  taxed  human 
credulity  more  severely  than  the  promise  of  the  printing- 
press,  the  steam-engine,  the  telegraph,  and  last,  and  most 
wonderful  of  all,  the  phonograph?  Are  we  to  halt  in 
our  hope  of  human  nature  after  what  we  have  seen? 
Are  not  man's  capabilities  absolutely  unlimited?     "The 


HUMAN  NATURE.  4 1 


height  of  the  pinnacle  is  determined  by  the  breadth  of 
the  base."  The  knowledge  we  have  that  Jesus  has 
aheady  saved  miUions,  makes  the  beUef  easier  to  us  (or 
ought  to)  than  it  was  to  the  disciples  that  he  will  "  draw 
all  men  "  unto  him. 

Man  shows  in  his  constitution  that  he  was  formed  for 
truth ;  and  truth,  in  its  fitness  to  man,  shows  that  it  was 
formed  for  him.  Together  they  are  every  thing ;  apart 
they  are  nothing.  To  bring  them  together  is  the  mission 
of  all  the  teachers  God  sends  into  the  world.  "  Plato," 
says  Hamilton,  "  defines  man  '  a  hunter  after  truth.'  "  He 
hunts  after  it  because  he  hungers  for  it,  as  the  body  hun- 
gers for  food.  He  "  scents  it  "  through  faculties  given  him 
for  that  purpose  ;  and  through  the  same  and  other  faculties 
he  experiences  pleasure  in  pursuing  it ;  and  after  finding  it 
and  enjoying  it,  he  doubles  his  delight  by  communicating 
it  to  others.  In  this  way,  God  enhances  the  certainty  of 
the  universal  diffusion  of  truth  ;  that  is,  by  blessing  both 
teacher  and  pupil,  searcher  and  bringer,  hearer  and 
preacher. 

"  Does  not  the  eye  in  the  human  embryo  predict  the 
light?"  So  do  our  faculties  as  they  exist  here  predict 
immortality.  This  world  does  not,  cannot,  satisfy  us. 
Goethe's  last  words  were,  "  More  light !  "  A  distinguished 
American  statesman,  far  advanced  in  years,  died  while 
reading  (and  understandingly)  one  of  Bacon's  essays,  the 


42     THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

ponderous  volume  he  was  holding,  falling  on  his  breast  as 
a  solemn  sign  that  life  had  fled.  Now  did  this  mind 
thirsting  for  knowledge  till  the  last,  delighted  till  the  last 
in  the  masterly  exercise  of  thought,  pass  out  of  existence 
with  the  breath  of  the  body?  Michael  Angelo  grew  in 
intellectual  strength  as  he  grew  in  years ;  he  began  and 
finished  the  mightiest  work  of  his  life  after  he  was  eighty ; 
and  when,  finally,  as  he  was  nearing  his  ninetieth  birth- 
day, the  call  came  for  him  to  depart,  he  had  his  chisel  in 
his  hand  still,  and  was  planning  for  other  achievements 
like  those  which  had  already  filled  the  world  with  his 
fame.  He  had  outlived  all  his  companions  in  art ;  he 
had  built  for  hirAself  a  greater  monument  than  any  papal 
mausoleum ;  had  risen  until  he  stood  where  he  had  no 
peer  in  the  admiration  and  affection  of  his  countrymen  : 
and  yet  he  was  as  unsatisfied  as  ever,  as  anxious  to  learn 
and  to  do  as  ever.  Were  not  such  powers,  retaining 
their  ambition  and  vigor  up  to  the  moment  of  death, 
prophetic  of  larger  opportunities  and  higher  rewards 
beyond  ? 

"  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God  !  and  renew  a 
right  spirit  within  me.  Wash  me  thoroughly  from  mine 
iniquity,  and  cleanse  me  from  my  sin."  Is  not  this 
prayer  of  the  Psalmist  the  prayer  of  human  nature  ?  Does 
not  human  nature  love  moral  cleanness  ? 

We  anticipate  unfavorable  answers  from  many  quarters 


HUMAN  NATURE.  43 


to  these  questions.  There  is  so  much  uncleanness  in  the 
world,  and  so  many  persons  seem  content  to  live  in  it ; 
inherited  and  acquired  depravity  abounds  so  universally ; 
resistance  to  holiness  is  so  frequent  and  so  decided,  —  that 
the  impression  is  naturally  prevalent  that  sin  is  man's 
normal  condition  ;  that  he  accepts  it  willingly,  breathes  it 
as  his  native  air,  revels  in  it  mth  delight.  Plausible  as 
this  theory  is ;  fortified  as  it  is  by  profound  learning  and 
earnest  piety,  —  we  suggest  that  a  mistake  has  been  made 
in  regarding  the  immoral  and  vicious  habits  men  have 
fallen  into  as  parts  of  human  nature.  But  how  have  they 
fallen  into  these  habits,  if  not  from  an  internal  tendency 
to  sin  ?  They  succumbed  at  first  through  weakness,  but 
not  through  total  depravity.  There  were  always  moral 
instincts  which  rebelled  against  the  fall,  but  they  were 
overcome.  "  Now,"  says  Paul,  "  if  I  do  that  I  would  not, 
it  is  no  more  I  that  do  it,  but  sin  that  dwelleth  in  me." 
Sin  dwells  in  human  nature,  and  controls  it  often  ;  vitiates 
its  energies,  even  its  will  and  its  motives  :  but  it  is  no  part 
of  its  organism.  Hamilton  quotes  Bacon  as  saying, 
"Man's  nature  runs  either  to  herbs  or  weeds."  This 
seems  to  be  true ;  but  the  herbs  are  indigenous,  the 
weeds  exotic.  God  sows  the  "good  seed  "  in  the  laws 
and  functions  of  the  soul ;  "  an  enemy "  comes  after- 
wards, and  sows  "  tares." 

There  was  never  a  human   body  so   depraved  in  its 


44     THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

habits  as  not  to  delight  in  the  bath ;  faces  and  hands  can 
hardly  be  found  so  soiled  as  not  to  say,  "Wash  me  !  " 
So  there  is  always  a  moral  feeling  in  the  natural  soul 
which  prays,  "  Cleanse  me  from  my  sins  ! "  And  this 
proves  that  sin  is  not  constitutional ;  that  we  were  formed 
with  reference  to  a  Hfe  of  purity ;  that  the  original  powers 
of  our  nature  look  toward  holiness.  There  is  in  us  what 
Matthew  Arnold  has  called  "instinctive  perfection,"  and 
which,  he  adds,  "  is  the  master  power  in  humanity."  This 
power  however,  to  be  complete  master,  needs  the  assist- 
ance of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Human  nature  is  incapable  of 
saving  itself;  hence  a  Saviour  has  been  provided  for  it. 
"We  shall  all  agree,"  says  President  Porter,  "in  this  ; 
that  man  is  a  moral  being,  and  as  such  possesses  all  the 
endowments  which  are  requisite  for  responsible  activity. 
He  is  personal  and  free.  He  assents  to  the  excellence 
of  duty  upon  himself,  and  he  imposes  duty  on  himself  as 
the  supreme  law  of  his  inner  and  outward  activity."  We 
have,  then,  only  to  premise  that  human  nature  will  re- 
main the  same  in  the  future  world ;  that  it  will  continue 
eternally  "personal  and  free  ;  "  that  the  mission  of  Christ, 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  will  also  extend  into  the  future 
world,  —  to  believe  in  the  ultimate  salvation  of  mankind. 


SIN  AND    ITS    SEQUENCES.  45 


SIN   AND   ITS    SEQUENCES. 

BY  G.  H.  EMERSON,  D.D. 

TN  the  discussion  of  topics  essentially  ethical,  the  diffi- 
cult task  is  not  so  much  in  elucidation  as  in  definition. 
Perhaps  we  should  come  nearer  to  a  precise  statement, 
were  we  to  say  that  the  substantial  part  of  the  elucidation 
is  in  a  process  of  definition.  A  clear  and  firm  apprehen- 
sion of  the  peculiarities  of  the  topic,  —  one  that  is  in  no 
danger  of  confounding  those  peculiarities  with  other  mat- 
ters, —  is  often  all  that  discussion  need  aim  at.  The 
reader  who  has  been  put  in  possession  of  the  real  topic, 
and  who  has  been  qualified  to  hold  it  without  insensibly 
changing  any  part  of  it  for  other  things  which  though  re- 
sembling phases  of  the  topic  are  yet  not  identical  with 
them,  may  in  most  cases  be  trusted  to  work  his  own  way 
towards  the  conclusions  which  are  logically  involved. 
Definition  therefore  is,  we  are  strongly  persuaded,  the 
chief  business  of  this  chapter. 

That  evil   thing  whereof  we  are  now  to  trace  the  se- 
quences, many  readers  will  presume  must  at  this  date  be 


46     THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

beyond  the  possibility  of  misapprehension.  That  thing  is 
personal  with  everybody.  We  all  feel  it  and  suffer  from 
it.  Can  there  be  a  doubt  as  to  its  essential  nature  ?  In 
regard  to  that  nature,  can  there  be  a  real  difference  of 
opinion  —  we  may  rather  say  of  experience  ?  Surely,  that 
against  which  law-giver,  prophet,  evangelist,  and  preacher 
have  for  centuries  declaimed ;  that  which  Christ  came  to 
destroy,  and  in  the  destruction  of  which  souls  are  saved 
and  glorified ;  that  which  has  been  the  theme  of  constant 
explanation  since  the  disobedience  in  Eden,  —  surely, 
that  cannot  need  a  definition  now  :  so  it  may  be  thought. 
We  are  not  to  presume  that  the  Gospel  is  revealed  against 
an  ambiguity. 

Assuredly,  particular  cases  of  sinfulness  seldom  need 
much  definition.  With  Paul  and  Felix,  with  Marcus 
Aurelius  and  Nero,  with  Borgia  and  F^n^lon  before  us, 
we  can  never  have  a  doubt  as  to  which  are  good  and 
which  are  evil.  Personal  examples  of  sin  to  be  under- 
stood need  but  to  be  seen.  But  when  we  are  compelled 
to  consider  the  sin  apart  from  the  sinful  person,  the  diffi- 
culty in  apprehension  becomes  most  real,  and  the  danger 
of  mistake  constant.  That  which  in  the  concrete  is 
plain  to  the  way-faring  and  the  simple,  in  the  abstract  tests 
the  acuteness  of  thinking  and  the  accuracy  of  definition. 
Wicked  Felix  confuses  nobody.  The  wickedness  of 
Felix  —  or   that  which  is  its   essential    equivalent  —  has 


SIN  AND    ITS   SEQUENCES.  47 

been  the  subject  of  analysis  and  explication  for  centuries ; 
and  the  octavos  devoted  to  the  definition  would  make  a 
library. 

Does  it  occur  to  any  reader  to  complain  that  we  are 
prolonging  an  introduction  ?  We  earnestly  submit  that  the 
introduction  is  but  in  form  ;  in  truth,  we  are  at  the  heart 
of  our  subject.  And  no  insignificant  part  of  the  task  we 
have  in  hand  is  already  accomplished,  provided  we  are 
successful  in  firmly  impressing  the  point  that  sin  considered 
as  an  entity  —  as  something  apart  from  the  person  who  sins 
—  zs  an  abstraction.  The  very  word  sin  is  a  figure  ;  it  does 
not  hterally  but  only  metaphorically  recognize  a  reality. 
This  reality  is  not  a  thing  properly  called  sin,  but  rather 
a  person  in  the  act  of  sinning.  The  poverty  of  language, 
its  very  limited  capability  for  making  literal  statements, 
which  necessitates  the  figurative  method  of  abstracting  the 
sin  from  the  sinner,  and  the  treating  of  it  as  if  it  were  an 
entity  (which  in  fact  it  cannot  be),  is  radically  misleading 
where  it  accustoms  the  mind  to  regard  it  as  a  something 
in  itself.  The  "  sin  of  the  world  "  does  not  mean  a  mass 
of  wicked  stuff,  analogous  to  the  mountains  of  ice  which 
surround  the  poles.  The  thing  always  meant  is  that  of  a 
responsible  person  choosing  and  acting  badly,  when  the 
ability  and  the  opportunity  for  choosing  and  acting  virtu- 
ously are  given.  And  we  repeat  and  would  emphasize  the 
position,  that  the  reader  who  has  become  guarded  against 


48     THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

the  misapprehension  we  have  described,  so  far  from  stand- 
ing on  the  portals  of  our  theme,  has  made  no  inconsider- 
able advance  within  its  gates.  We  should  add  that  the 
method  of  treating  our  subject,  which  compels  us  to  ab- 
stract the  sin  from  the  sinner  and  present  it  as  if  it  had 
a  separate  existence,  is  nothing  peculiar  to  ethical  disqui- 
sition. It  is  the  method  of  the  physicist,  who  in  discours- 
ing upon  color  abstracts  the  red  or  the  blue  from  the 
thing  that  is  red  or  blue ;  who  if  sound  is  his  topic  does 
in  the  very  statement  of  the  subject  present  the  abstrac- 
tion and  not  the  thing. 

The  metaphysical  substratum  on  which  a  definition  of 
sin  rests,  —  which  raises  questions  as  to  the  seat  of  the 
evil,  whether  in  desire,  in  volition,  in  motive,  or  in  combi- 
nations of  these ;  and  questions  which  bring  somewhat 
discordant  answers,  —  need  not  here  be  considered.  For- 
tunately, it  answers  our  present  purpose  to  begin  at  a  stage 
much  nearer  easy  apprehension,  and  where  the  wiser  au- 
thorities are  in  substantial  agreement.  Whatever  diversi- 
ties of  belief  there  may  be  back  of  or  prior  to  the  follow- 
ing position,  we  are  confident  that  the  position  itself  will 
provoke  no  dissent :  Sin  appears  when  a  person,  having 
the  ability  afid  the  opportunity  to  choose  a?id  act  upon  the 
known  good,  freely  chooses  ajid  acts  up07i  the  knowJt  evil. 
To  every  person  of  moral  and  religious  accountability,  the 
known  good,  the  entirety  of  righteousness,  includes  as  its 


SIN  AND  ITS    SEQUENCES.  49 

root  and  substance  that  which  has  been  proclaimed  with 
authority,  —  the  love  of  God  and  the  love  of  man ;  and  to 
every  such  person  the  known  evil  includes  for  root  and 
substance  the  converse,  which  is  hate  ;  and  it  has  the  au- 
thoritative elucidation,  "  He  that  hateth  his  brother  is 
a  murderer." 

In  modem  and  philosophic  phraseology,  the  vitality  of 
sin  is  in  the  attitude  of  disobedience  towards  God,  —  the 
heart's  refusal  to  yield  to  his  known  will.  We  say  that 
the  vitality,  the  qualitative  spirit,  of  sin  is  in  this  attitude 
of  the  heart.  Locate  this  disobedience  where  you  may, 
—  in  desire,  volition,  proclivity,  motive,  intent,  —  the  dis- 
obedience is  the  "  original  "  sin.  It  is  therefore  true  that 
he  who  really  loves  his  Maker  and  his  fellow  creatures  is 
morally  good,  even  though  because  of  lack  of  ability  or 
of  opportunity,  he  fails  to  express  that  love  in  any  overt 
act  or  form.  And  so  he  that  hates  is  sinful,  even  though 
because  of  circumstance  or  inability  his  hate  never  gets 
beyond  the  simple  feeling,  never  manifests  itself  in  a  cor- 
responding audible  or  tangible  act.  But  it  rarely  hap- 
pens that  a  person  is  wholly  bereft  of  opportunity  to  act 
as  he  feels ;  and  therefore  it  rarely  happens  that  the  wiU 
can  be  taken  for  the  deed.  When  possible,  the  good  deed 
must  follow,  or  there  is  no  good  intent ;  and  the  evil  deed 
will  follow,  or  there  is  no  evil  intent. 

If  in  the  generahty  of  cases  there  were  nothing  in- 

4 


50  THE  LATEST  WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

volved  save  the  feeling,  —  that  of  love  or  that  of  its  con- 
verse, —  it  would  take  but  a  paragraph  to  dispose  of  the 
question  of  sequence.  But  here  comes  the  momentous 
consideration  which  at  once  complicates,  extends,  and 
enriches  our  theme  :  Every  moral  person  has  7?iariy  a?id 
diversified  relations  alike  to  God  and  his  fellows.  It  is 
along  the  lines  of  these  relationships  that  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities nm.  In  every  way,  in  every  regard,  in  which 
the  love  of  God  and  man  has  opportunity,  at  least  occa- 
sion, to  put  itself  into  overt  act,  the  duty  to  do  so  is  im- 
perative ;  and  the  ^\dlful  refusal  so  to  act,  the  wilful  doing 
of  the  things  which  are  contrary  thereto,  is  sin.  Chris- 
tianity is  .not  neglectful  to  connect  the  heart's  feeling  with 
the  possible  corresponding  act.  It  is  not  enough  that  we 
profess  love  for  the  hungry  and  naked  brother ;  we  must 
also  manifest  that  love  in  a  discreet,  yet  real,  ministering 
to  his  needs.  To  say :  Be  ye  warmed  and  be  ye  filled, 
notwithstanding  that  we  give  not  the  things  which  are 
needful  thereto,  profits  nothing.  The  apostle  in  this  gives 
both  the  metaphysics  and  the  physics  of  the  substance  of 
sin.  The  love  in  the  heart,  the  impulsion  in  the  motive, 
the  intent  in  the  will  (by  whatever  form  of  words  we 
choose  to  express  the  one  and  same  thing),  includes  the 
possible  and  perceived  outward  act :  it  includes  this  as 
essentially,  organically,  imperatively  related,  blending  in 
the  unit  of  righteousness  both  the  attitude  of  the  heart 
and  the  responsive  action  of  the  hand. 


SIN  AND  ITS  SEQUENCES.  51 

The  details  of  the  moral  relationships  of  man  to  his 
fellows  and  to  his  Maker  —  grand  and  almost  numberless 
in  the  specialties  of  duty  and  of  prudential  regulation  — 
belong  to  and  make  the  subject-matter  of  Moral  Science. 
We  are  not  called  upon  here  to  give  in  any  degree  the 
enumeration  or  the  explication.     But  we  can  in  no  partic- 
ular advance  our  subject  unless  we  emphasize  and  render 
constantly  distinct  the  position  that  such  specialties  and 
regulations  are  real.     The  lungs  are  not  more  rigidly  and 
vitally  related  to  the  atmosphere  which  they  inhale,  than 
is  the   soul  of  man  —  in  its  sympathies,  affections,  and 
obligations  —  related  to  the  weal  of  other  members  of  the 
race,  and  also  to  the  ordinances  of  God.     The  body  of 
humanity,  whereof  each  person  is  but  a  lively  member,  is 
but  a  recognition  in  metaphor  of  the  essential  unity  of  all 
of  human  kind.     Obedience  is  an  act  bearing  not  more 
upon  self  than  upon  others ;  and  often  upon  self  mainly  as 
it  affects  the  weal  of  others.      The  moral  nature,  whence 
emanates  love  going  forth  into  tangible  expression,  gives 
the  bond  of  society,  —  literally  makes  society  :  it  furnishes 
that  which  makes  society  peculiar,  as  distinct  from  and 
superior  to  the  gregarious  companionship  of  the  lower  ani- 
mals.    Hence,  social  obligations  are  as  real  as  self-obliga- 
tions.    And  we  directly  touch  the   specialty  of  our  topic, 
up  to  which  we  have  now  worked  our  way,  when  we  add  : 
As  it  is  in  the  neglect  or  infringement,  both  in  feeling  and 


52     THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

in  deed,  of  the  duties  which  inhere  in  our  self,  social,  and 
divine  relationships  that  sin  has  its  genesis  and  quaUty ; 
so  it  is  in  the  operations  of  those  neglects  and  infringe- 
ments, along  the  varying  and  ramifying  lines  of  the 
several  relationships,  that  sift  finds  its  sequences. 

Still  it  is  definition,  yet  we  trust  pertinent  matter,  and 
we  ask.  What  are  we  to  understand  by  sequences  ?  Un- 
questionably sequences  are  effects ;  but  they  do  not  in- 
clude every  effect.  We  pursue  our  theme  by  attaching  to 
the  term  sequence  that  particular  kind  of  effect  which  is 
invariable,  organic,  constitutional,  having  its  operation  in 
the  nature  of  the  case.  Effects  that  are  contingent  on 
accident,  incident,  or  fortuitous  circumstance,  —  which 
may  happen  once  and  never  be  repeated;  which  have 
their  potentiality  less  in  their  cause  than  in  the  peculiari- 
ties of  condition,  —  are  not  sequents.  This  radical  differ- 
ence we  must  endeavor  to  make  clear. 

The  story  goes  that  a  blacksmith  was  a  moment  be- 
hind the  time  of  his  promise  in  shoeing  a  horse.  It  thence 
followed  that  a  messenger  riding  upon  that  horse  was 
a  moment  late  in  delivering  a  military  order.  It  next 
followed  that  the  general  in  command  fought  under  unfa- 
voring  conditions  a  battle  which  his  superior  had  coun- 
termanded. Next  in  the  order  of  results  the  army  was 
destroyed.  The  issue  of  this  calamity  was  the  destruction 
of  the  nation.     The  last  effect  named  in  the  story  was  a 


SIN  AND  ITS  SEQUENCES.  53 

change  in  the  course  of  subsequent  history.  The  black- 
smith's failure  was  the  initial  cause.  In  succession  came 
the  six  effects,  —  the  messenger's  delay,  the  fighting  of  the 
battle,  the  defeat,  the  nation's  ruin,  the  course  of  history 
changed.  These  six  results  were  indeed  effects  ;  did  they 
were  not  sequences. 

Another  story  has  familiar  constituents.  A  man  cast  a 
kernel  of  com  into  good  soil,  where  it  took  root  and  sprang 
up,  first,  the  blade  ;  second,  the  ear ;  third,  the  full  corn  in 
the  ear.  The  germinating  seed  is  the  initial  act  and  cause. 
In  successive  order  came  the  three  effects,  —  the  blade, 
the  ear,  the  full  com.  These  were  effects  :  they  were 
also  sequences. 

The  characteristic  of  a  fixed  organic  connection  between 
each  stage  of  the  development  and  that  immediately  pre- 
ceding, as  also  that  immediately  succeeding,  very  sharply 
separates  the  kind  of  effects  given  in  the  second  story  from 
the  kind  given  in  the  first.  Between  a  blacksmith's  fail- 
ure to  make  good  his  promise  and  the  delivery  of  a  mili- 
tary order,  there  is  no  organic  connection.  If  to-morrow 
a  thousand  blacksmiths  should  do  the  same  thing,  it  is  not 
likely  that  in  any  case  the  delay  of  a  message  to  the  gen- 
eral of  an  army  would  be  a  result ;  and  it  is  morally  cer- 
tain that  no  loss  of  an  army  or  fall  of  empire  would  be  a 
further  issue.  All  the  issues  given  in  the  story  were  con- 
tingent upon  conditions  purely  arbitrary,  and  such  as  may 


54  THE  LATEST   WORD    OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

never  be  repeated.  But  of  the  effects  named  in  the  sec- 
ond example,  we  may  literally  apply  the  apostolic  pledge  : 
"  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap."  The 
good  seed  once  rooted  in  congenial  soil,  the  successive 
stages  have  such  certainty  and  such  uniformity,  that  any 
failure  is  at  once  attributed  to  a  disturbance  of  the  natural 
conditions. 

We  have  therefore  the  difference  between  the  kind  of 
results  which  are  mechanical  and  accidental,  and  the  kind 
which  are  organic  and  inevitable.  The  sequential  effect 
or  result  is  never  a  thing  of  chance  nor  of  arbitrary  arrange- 
ment :  it  is  constitutional,  absolutely  inhering  in  its  cause 
and  the  established  conditions. 

The  importance  of  the  topic  —  the  Sequences  of  Sin  — 
is  in  the  consideration  that  these  sequences  are  retributive. 
And  if  this  be  true,  no  rhetoric  can  overstate  the  claims 
which  our  subject  has  upon  the  serious  and  the  anxious 
thought  of  mankind.  That  retribution  is  in  the  natural  and 
inevitable  effects  of  wicked  intent  and  act  is  insisted  on  by 
all  intelligent  moralists,  and  is  disputed  by  but  very  few 
theologians  :  and  even  when  disputed,  it  is  usually  a  dispute 
as  to  terms.  Those  who  believe  and  teach  that  God's  gov- 
ernment is  analogous  to  human  government,  and  that  his 
punishments  for  evil  doing  are  statutory  and  come  by  fiat 
from  without,  —  the  same  as  do  the  penalties  provided 
for  by  human  enactments,  —  seem  to  be  anxious  to  guard 


SIN  AND    ITS    SEQUENCES.  55 

that  supposed  form  of  retribution  from  that  which,  as 
we  have  explained,  is  sequential.  While  therefore  they 
admit  the  fact  of  the  sequences,  and  even  make  an  appeal 
to  them  as  warning,  and  as  sustaining  the  Divine  require- 
ments, they  refuse  to  attach  to  them  the  generic  name  of 
punishment.  "  But  the  current  discussions  of  the  general 
topic  of  retribution  in  nearly  every  case,  whether  or  not 
they  presume  the  existence  and  the  danger  of  statutory 
penalty,  do  not  hesitate  to  give  great  prominence  to  the 
retributive  character  of  those  palpable  results  of  sin  which 
are  sequential.  We  therefore  assume  the  proposition, 
and  we  specially  mark  the  vast  and  solemn  importance  of 
its  truth  :  Retribution  is  in  the  sequences  of  sin. 

But  do  the  sequences  include  all  the  retributions 
whereby  God  marks  and  proclaims  his  aversion  to  sin? 
Certainly,  all  instances  of  punishment  by  miracle  are 
excluded  from  the  category  of  sequences.  If  the  deaths 
which  befel  Ananias  and  Sapphira  were  specially  ordered 
in  view  of  their  falsehoods  to  the  Lord,  those  deaths  were 
not  sequential.  If  however,  when  they  saw  that  they  had 
lied  not  unto  men  but  unto  the  Lord,  they  were  so  startled 
at  the  terrible  nature  of  their  guilt  that  death  was  the  nat- 
ural issue  of  the  shock,  —  a  supposition  by  no  means  im- 
probable, and  not  negatived  by  any  statement  in  the 
records,  —  those  deaths  were  sequential.  But  we  are  not 
particular  in  regard  to  the  merits  of  the  case  of  these  per- 


56     THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

sons,  or  of  any  of  the  examples  given  in  the  Scriptures,  for 
we  admit  the  reality  of  miracle  as  pervading  the  Biblical 
history :  were  this  the  proper  connection,  we  should  here 
dispute  the  position  and  the  reasoning  of  those  who  deny 
that  constituent.  But  by  universal  consent  we  may 
refuse  to  anticipate  miracle  where  none  is  promised ; 
where  none  is  threatened.  We  therefore  take  the  posi- 
tion. Save  in  all  cases  of  punishment  by  miraculous 
agency,  the  sequences  of  sin  include  the  entirety  of  its 
retribution. 

In  avowing  this  position  however,  we  must  explain,  and 
warn  the  reader  to  consider,  that  we  take  no  narrow  or 
restricted  view  of  the  real  sequences  of  guilty  doing.  The 
relationships  of  man,  as  we  explained  in  the  outset,  are 
vast,  varied,  and  far-reaching ;  and  the  sequential  channels 
are  as  numerous  and  extended.  If  it  seems  a  perversion 
of  terms  to  speak  of  man  as  related  to  himself,  it  surely  is 
a  literal  fact  that  his  feelings  and  conduct  are  related  to 
himself;  powerfully  reacting  upon  him,  for  evil  or  for 
blessing,  in  his  intellect,  moral  nature,  and  even  ani- 
mal powers.  The  relationships,  therefore,  have  at  least 
three  grand  channels,  in  that  they  attach  to  self,  to  society, 
and  to  God.  With  the  moralist,  therefore,  we  say  that  the 
sinner  gets  retribution  in  the  direct  and  organic  connec- 
tion which  his  guilty  conduct  has  with  himself  and  with 
his  fellows  j   and   with   the   religionist   or   theologian   we 


SIN  AND  ITS  SEQUENCES.  57 

add,  —  and  also  with  Him  to  whom  he  must  give  account. 
Any  notion  of  sequences  which  Hmits  them  to  remorse,  or 
to  lower  forms  of  unhappiness,  though  it  recognizes  a  very 
weighty  particular,  excludes  far  more  than  it  includes. 
Our  purpose  is  to  exclude  all  gratuitous  miracles,  and  to 
find  God's  government  in  the  laws  he  has  impressed  on  the 
objects  of  his  rule,  —  his  retributions  in  the  varied,  vast,  and 
fearful  evolutions  of  the  intent  and  act  of  guilt.  May  we 
here  express  our  satisfaction  in  finding  our  position  in  this 
important  regard  confirmed  by  thoughtful  men  in  current 
discussions  on  the  question  of  sin  and  its  award?  The 
recent,  and  in  some  particulars  vehement  transference  of 
the  explications  of  sin  and  penalty  firom  the  theological  to 
an  ethical  basis,  —  predicating  of  the  operations  of  sin 
in  the  sinner,  rather  than  of  inflictions  by  God  iipon  the 
sinner,  —  is  a  real,  even  if  not  formal,  recognition  of  the 
proposition,  The  sequences  of  sin  include  the  entirety  of 
retribution,  cases  of  special  or  exceptional  intervention 
alone  excepted. 

But  what  are  some  of  the  sequences  of  sin  ?  Of  course 
it  is  not  expected  that  we  shall  even  approach  a  full  enu- 
meration. We  can  describe  but  a  few,  and  note  the  gen- 
eral characteristics. 

I.  Remorse,  that  most  common  and  most  painful 
experience  of  guilty  man,  will  promptly  occur  to  every 
one  who  makes   any  attempt  to  specify  the  retributive 


58     THE  LATEST   WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

sequences  of  sin.  Just  in  proportion  to  the  sensitiveness 
of  the  conscience,  and  to  the  success  with  which  moral 
training  has  impressed  it,  will  the  act  of  wrong  be  followed 
by  an  inward  censure,  at  times  too  painful  for  endurance. 
This  evidently  was  the  "trouble  and  sorrow"  which  made 
the  hell  of  David.  This  is  the  troubled  sea  of  guilt  whose 
waters  "  cast  up  mire  and  dirt."  This  is  the  worm  that 
in  better  natures  will  not  die.  This  is  the  torment  which 
the  first  murderer  found  greater  than  he  could  bear.  This 
is  the  secret  of  "  conscience  money,"  of  public  confessions, 
sometimes  of  despair. 

Remorse  is  too  obvious  a  sequence  to  call  for  much  be- 
yond a  simple  recognition.  Yet  it  has  three  character- 
istics which  must  be  at  least  stated. 

(<?)  Its  intensity  reveals  a  moral  nature  which  is  not 
strong  enough  to  resist  a  temptation,  but  is  nevertheless 
vigorous  and  recuperative.  It  is  a  dead  Hmb  that  does  not 
start  at  the  touch  of  the  surgeon's  probe.  The  wound 
that  is  followed  by  acute  pain  is  the  more  likely  to  heal. 
Where  there  is  torture  there  is  vitality ;  and  where  there  is 
vitality  easy  recovery  is  probable.  Remorse,  therefore,  is 
a  hopeful  symptom ;  for  though  a  testimony  to  a  guilty 
life,  it  is  a  revelation  of  moral  capability. 

Q))  Though  it  seems  to  us  indiscriminate,  and  in  indi- 
vidual cases  not  always  palpably  in  accordance  with 
the  facts,  to  say  unqualifiedly  that  retribution  is  reform- 


SIN  AND  ITS  SEQUENCES.  59 

atory,  it  may,  we  are  confident,  be  firmly  said  that  re- 
morse, as  a  particular  phase  of  retribution,  is  clearly  meant 
for  reco^^ery,  and  powerfully  operates  to  that  end.  We  do 
indeed  hold  —  basing  the  conviction  on  observed  facts  and 
the  course  of  human  history,  and  also  finding  support  for 
it  in  theological  premises  —  that  retribution  as  a  whole  is 
reformatory  to  the  race  as  a  whole.  Yet  we  must  confess 
that,  in  reference  to  the  entirety  of  retribution,  the  individ- 
ual sinner  must  often  lose  the  direct  benefit  for  the  good 
of  others.  The  degradation  of  the  drunkard  as  a  terrible 
warning  is  salutary  to  the  tempted  world,  though  we  fail  to 
see  wherein  it  always  operates  to  the  good  of  the  victim. 
It  is  a  humane  sequence,  for  the  many  thereby  are  taught, 
warned,  and  strengthened ;  but  to  the  sufferer  it  is,  at 
least  apparently,  weakness  and  loss.  But  that  special 
sequence  which  is  accompanied  by  remorse  is  unmistak- 
ably a  power  for  recovery.  Let  it  be  strong  enough  and 
enduring  enough,  and  it  will  at  last  bring  the  sinner  to  the 
humiliation  that  is  followed  by  penitence  and  amend- 
ment. While  all  retributive  sequences  vindicate  God's 
mercy  to  the  world,  remorse  vindicates  that  mercy  to 
the  individual  sufferer.  //  at  least  is  directly  and  con- 
stantly for  the  sinner's  good. 

(<r)  Further,  and  to  the  religionist  a  momentous  truth,  — 
remorse  recognizes  a  responsibility  that  cannot  attach  to 
man  :  it  is  the  proclamation  of  the  will  of  a  Higher  Being, 


6o  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

and  it  seems  the  literalness  of  truth  to  say  that  it  is  the 
expression  of  God's  censure.  When  you  wrong  another, 
and  your  conscience  is  tortured  at  the  memory  of  that 
wrong,  the  conscience  tells  you  that  it  is  not  the  party  in- 
jured who  has  made  that  act  a  wrong.  Its  moral  quality  is 
instinctively  attributed  to  a  greater  than  man ;  and  though 
an  ijijury  as  respects  the  man,  it  is  felt  to  be  a  si?i  against 
God.  This  particular  sequence  is,  therefore,  seen  to 
spread  along  the  various  lines  of  relationship  which  hnk 
an  evil  act  to  the  doer,  to  another,  and  to  the  Supreme. 

2.  To  the  limited  and  possibly  delusive  apprehension  of 
mortals,  it  would  seem  well  if  the  pain  of  remorse  were  a 
constant  and  ever  increasing  sequence  of  sin.  In  that 
event,  there  would  seem  little  serious  risk  in  leaving  man 
to  himself.  If  the  avenging  worm  were  literally  undying, 
if  the  fire  of  torturing  reproof  were  literally  unquenchable, 
the  soul  would  ever  carry  with  it  the  needful,  and  in  the 
end  effective,  check ;  and,  in  every  regard  in  which  pen- 
alty can  operate  towards  results  essentially  moral,  also 
the  incentive  to  penitence  and  amendment.  Literally,  in 
the  matter  of  his  redemption,  or  at  least  the  antecedents 
thereto,  man  would  be  sufficient  unto  himself,  and  the 
Gospel  as  a  saving  power  approaching  from  without  might 
not  be  needed.  As  the  pain  of  the  burn  keeps  every  sane 
person  from  wantonly  putting  his  hand  or  holding  his  hand 
in  fire,  so  would  the  sting  and  cry  of  remorse,  so  would 


SLY  AND   ITS  SEQUENCES.  6 1 

a  fixed  and  increasing  pain,  keep  him  from  the  intents 
and  acts  of  guilty  conduct. 

It  is  however  a  part  of  the  mystery  of  sin,  a  part  of 
the  at  present  inexplicable  problem  why  sin  is  permitted 
at  all,  that  its  most  potent  and  reliable  counteractive 
often  grows  less  in  about  the  proportion  in  which  the 
guilt  grows  great.  There  are  many  exceptions  to  what  yet 
would  seem  to  be  the  rule,  that  continuance  in  evil  do- 
ing gradually  reduces  the  positive  pain  that  follows.  Here 
then,  as  in  the  fact  of  sin  itself,  we  are  thro^vn  back  upon 
faith,  trusting  where  we  cannot  trace.  Or  shall  we  say 
that  the  myster}'-  of  sin  itself  includes  the  weakening  of  its 
counteractives  ?  If  the  check  were  effective,  sin  could  not 
be,  at  least  could  not  continue ;  and  so  the  very  problem 
would  disappear.  But  whatever  our  philosophy  of  the 
fact,  the  fact  itself  is  real :  ^^^th  frequent  and  at  times 
startling  exceptions  to  the  rule,  the  rule  evidently  is  that 
the  restraint  or  counteractive  of  remorse  grows  less  and 
less  as  sin  is  repeated  and  extended. 

We  thus  come  upon  the  most  serious  and  the  most  alarm- 
ing of  all  the  sequences  of  sin,  —  a  phase  of  retribution  no 
doubt  just  and  merciful,  in  that  it  is  salutary  and  correc- 
tive to  others  than  the  one  who  suffers  it ;  but  to  him  very 
generally  a  hindrance  rather  than  a  corrective,  —  to  him 
yet  more  enslaving  rather  than  redemptive.  We  hardly 
need  Scripture  authority  for  a  fact  so  widely  and  so  terribly 


62  THE  LATEST    WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

attested ;  but  we  can  reason  upon  the  theme  in  no  other 
terms  so  pertinent  as  those  of  the  Bible.  One  word  of 
frequent  occurrence  in  the  Book  precisely  recognizes  it, 
—  the  hardening  of  the  heart :  the  oft-recurring  warning  is, 
"  Harden  not  your  hearts."  The  first  acts  of  sin  may  ren- 
der more  acute,  more  sensitive,  the  conscience ;  but  the 
reign  of  sin,  its  dominance  and  repetition,  is  unto  death. 
"The  wages  of  sin  is  death."  Of  those  who  had  become 
saints  in  Ephesus,  the  record  is  that  once  they  "  were 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  The  philosophic  phrase- 
ology for  this  ulterior  sequence  of  sin  is  moral  insensi- 
bility, spiritual  torpor,  the  inability  to  feel  remorse.  But 
we  cannot  improve  upon  the  Scripture  phrase,  —  the  hard- 
ness of  the  heart.  The  oft-cited  example  of  the  murderer 
who  testified  that  his  first  crime  reacted  upon  his  conscience 
in  a  horror  of  remorse,  great  to  the  verge  of  despair,  but 
whose  hundredth  victim  occasioned  within  him  no  com- 
punctions, —  is  doubtless  an  exaggerated  statement  of  an 
individual  example ;  yet  it  recognizes  what  we  have  de- 
scribed as  a  general  (not  uniform)  ulterior  sequence  of  sin. 
3.  The  limits  of  this  chapter  forbid  more  than  the  bald- 
est statement  of  what  cannot  be  amplified  in  less  than  the 
compass  of  a  book,  —  the  ramifications  and  far-reaching 
sequences  of  sin,  affecting  the  relations  of  the  evil-doer  to 
society.  In  the  general  lowering  of  the  moral  tone  self- 
respect  sinks,  bringing  with  it  the  loss  of  public  respect, 


SIX  AXD   ITS   SEQUEXCES.  63 


and  often  working  destruction  even  in  secular  avocations. 
A  sound  conscience  is  esseiitial  to  success  in  business ; 
such   is  the  rule,  whatever  may  be  said  of  exceptions. 
Even  the  physical  health,  the  ability  to  perform  the  hum- 
blest of  manual  labor,  the  very  getting  of  bread  and  rai- 
ment, —  all  the  bodily  and  the  secular  activities  are  im- 
paired ;  often  thwarted  by  that  which  at  its  root  is  an 
"attitude  of  the  conscience."     There  is  a  unity  in  the 
whole   life    and   all    the   relationships    of  an   individual, 
whereby  the  moral  virus  starting  from  the  will  (or  wher- 
ever we  may  locate  the  genesis  of  sin)  poisons  the  whole 
stream,  the  thousand  streams  of  life,  reaching  into  and  per- 
meating every  thread  of  being,  personal  and  social,  spiritual 
and  material.     The  Roman  citizen  had  the  option  of  sell- 
ing himself  into  slavery ;  but  having  elected  to  do  this,  he 
forfeited  the  power  whereby  his  liberty  might  be  regained. 
Even  so  he  that  sins  and  persists  therein  often  becomes 
"  the  servant  of  sin,"  held  in  bondage  thereto  by  the  loss  of 
self-respect,  by  the  tyranny  of  evil  inclination,  by  the  giving 
way  of  the  moral  restraints  which  society  would  impose,  and 
by  the  varied  ramifications  in  which  the  habits  of  a  debased 
nature  become  entangled,  and  whereby  the  sinner,  in  the 
New  Testament  use  of  a  much  perverted  word,  is  "  lost." 
Our  topic  is  not  salvation  from  sin,  but  the  sequences 
thereof.     It  does  not  fall  to  this  chapter,  therefore,  to  con- 
sider the  question  of  escape  from  the  meshes  of  evil  which 


64  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALIS }f. 

we  have  sought  to  elucidate.  We  may  however  give  the 
relief  which  inheres  in  a  Gospel  which  is  not  of  Despair, 
but  of  Hope.  Happily,  there  is  another  subject  than  the 
one  now  under  consideration.  If  indeed  our  topic  was  the 
entirety  of  the  moral  problem  ;  if  there  were  no  "  theologi- 
cal "  phase  to  supplement  the  "  ethical ;  "  if  destiny  were 
solely  a  question  of  man,  and  in  no  regard  a  matter  enlist- 
ing the  action  of  God,  —  we  should  say  that  the  future  had 
very  little  to  inspire  courage  and  justify  hope.  But  as 
surely  as  there  is  a  reign  unto  death,  there  is  another  reign 
which  is  unto  life.  If  moral  death  is  sin's  wages,  eternal 
life  is  God's  gift.  And  the-saints  at  Ephesus  were  persons 
who  had  been  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  "  but  who 
under  the  quickening  of  the  Spirit  had  "passed  from 
death  unto  life."  Given  a  God  who  becomes  strength  to 
the  weak,  a  Saviour  who  seeks  the  lost,  and  the  darkest 
cloud  of  guilt  has  the  silver  lining  of  Divine  promise. 
There  is  a  blood  that  can  cleanse  from  all  sin. 

Our  most  hopeful  view  of  the  destiny  of  all  souls,  rest- 
ing we  trust  on  its  own  and  sufficient  foundations,  imposes 
upon  us  no  necessity  of  making  the  sequences  of  sin  less  real, 
less  extended,  less  tenacious  than  the  facts  disclose.  Our 
impression  is  strong  that  the  evolution  of  sin,  were  it  7iot 
interfered  with  (in  other  words,  were  there  no  Gospel  or 
its  equivalent),  would  issue  in  the  extinction  of  moral 
being,  its  death  being  literal  not  less  than  figurative ;  its 


SIN  AND  ITS  SEQUENCES.  65 


resurrection  a  result  not  to  be  hoped  for.  Trusting  an- 
other and  quite  distinct  Power  to  deal  with  the  evil,  we  can 
see  no  reason  in  creed  or  prejudice  tempting  us  to  explain 
away  or  under-estimate  the  magnitude  of  the  evil  itself. 

It  seems  to  us,  however,  a  fact  embraced  in  the  se- 
quences of  sin  that  of  itself  //  Ms  no  essential  permanence. 
It  is  clearly  the  soul's  distemper ;  and  disease,  as  every 
just  analogy  teaches,  must  end  either  in  cure  or  in  disso- 
lution :  in  any  view  it  must  end.  Now  it  is  not  a  specu- 
lation, but  a  palpable  fact,  —  affirmed  by  nearly  every 
creed,  and  illustrated  by  innumerable  examples,  —  that 
the  tenacity  of  sin  is  not  absolutely  unyielding.  The 
notion  of  essential  permanence,  as  affirmed  of  any  phase 
of  character,  is  not  only  false  to  psychology,  not  only  a 
contradiction  of  the  indestructible  freedom  of  every  moral 
nature,  but  is  also  negatived  by  numerous  and  startling 
examples  constantly  occurring.  In  truth,  sin  in  becom- 
ing essentially  permanent  ceases  to  be  sin. 

Our  imperfect  elucidation  would  indeed  fail,  and  at  a 
vital  pomt,  did  we  not  include  certainly  as  possible,  and 
generally  as  probable,  though  not  an  unyielding  yet  a  real 
tenacity  in  sin  and  its  sequences.  Many  of  the  antece- 
dents of  redemption  are  unquestionably  sudden,  possibly 
instantaneous.  There  are  quick  convictions  :  not  infre- 
quently it  is,  in  the  literal  use  of  words,  that  one  "  is  struck 
with  conviction."     There  are  also  sudden  revolutions  of 


66  THE  LATEST   WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

feeling ;  and  unlawful  objects  long  desired  are  abruptly  and 
permanently  discarded.  Inebriates  have  filled  their  cups, 
and  before  the  poison  was  brought  to  their  lips  they  have 
dashed  it  to  the  ground,  never  again  to  yield  to  the  temp- 
tation. Repentance  is  in  its  nature  a  sudden  resolve  put 
into  the  act  on  the  instant.  New  knowledge,  sudden 
revelations,  at  times  strike  the  soul  to  the  very  core ;  and 
the  newness  of  feeling  and  of  purpose  comes  in  the 
"  twinkling  of  an  eye."  These  are  not  surmises,  they  are 
facts.  But  the  mistake  is  fundamental  that  confounds 
these  experiences  with  that  to  which  they  often  lead,  — 
an  amended  and  sanctified  character.  For  this,  the 
ulterior  issue,  we  know  of  no  fact,  of  no  analogy,  that 
banctions  the  notion  of  suddenness,  or  even  of  great  ra- 
pidity. The  characteristic  marks  cannot  be  erased :  they 
must  be  outgrown.  In  a  comprehensive  word,  the  sal- 
vation is  a  growth  and  not  a  creation.  To  this  conclu- 
sion is  the  purport  of  the  sequences  of  sin. 

We  have  the  consent  of  nearly  all,  that  the  causes 
counteractive  of  sin  and  its  issues  must  be  moral :  it  is  a 
contradiction  of  the  thought,  not  less  than  of  the  words, 
to  attribute  so  radical  a  transformation  to  mechanical  or 
physical  agencies.  We  must  hold  that  it  is  a  duty  of 
those  who  would  instruct  the  people  on  this  great  theme, 
that,  while  they  use  words  properly  expressive  of  moral 
agencies,  they  should  be  thoughtful  and    painstaking  to 


SIN  AND  ITS  SEQUENCES.  67 


make  the  impression  accord  with  the  verbal  meaning. 
Any  prejudice  which  is  gratified  by  phraseology  that  will 
bear  the  construction  of  mechanical  rather  than  rational 
causes,  should  be  steadily  and  effectively  rebuked.  While 
certain  conditions  of  the  efficacy  of  moral  forces  may  be 
physical,  we  wrong  those  who  listen  to  us  if  we  do  not 
make  them  see  and  feel  the  world-wide  difference  be- 
tween spiritual  causes  and  adventitious  material  conditions. 
Not  only  should  we  iterate  and  reiterate  that  "we  are 
saved  by  grace  "  co-operating  -with  the  willing  heart  and 
mind,  but  we  should  strive  to  foreclose  all  possibility 
of  the  perverting  these  words  into  other  than  their  moral 
or  spiritual  significance.  So  much  is  in  the  ethics  of 
our  theme. 

Finally,  considerations  of  time  and  place  can  have  but 
an  incidental  bearing  upon  the  operation  of  spiritual  and 
redemptive  causes.  If  the  formula  be  true,  "We  are 
spirits  but  have  bodies,"  the  question  whether  we  are  in 
bodies  or  out  of  bodies,  though,  it  may  be  one  of  certain 
temptations,  can  never  be  one  of  holy  character.  For 
this  the  mind,  heart,  and  will  must  strive,  the  Divine 
Spirit  always  "  aiding  and  abetting ;  "  and  at  whatever  date 
we  begin,  whether  it  be  prior  to  death,  at  death,  or  subse- 
quent to  that  physical  change,  the  issue  must  be  reached 
by  the  process  of  growth.  We  know  of  no  analogy  that 
suggests  a  different  conclusion.     The  Sequences  of  Sin  — 


68  THE  LATEST   WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

if  in  any  degree  we  have  successfully  traced  them  —  im- 
peratively forbid  an  opposite  conclusion. 

Our  subject  is  the  darkest  in  the  realm  of  ethical  and 
theological  considerations.  We  have  literally  attempted  a 
diagnosis  of  the  foulest  and  most  tenacious  of  all  maladies. 
We  dismiss  its  treatment  with  the  reiteration  that  the  soul's 
malady,  however  deep-seated,  however  rooted  in  its  various 
sequences,  and  however  in  manifold  cases  tenacious  in  the 
presence  of  redeeming  influences,  is  nevertheless  curable^ 
—  considered  to  be  such  by  respectable  thinkers  of  every 
creed,  and  proved  to  be  such  by  innumerable  examples. 
The  question  of  cure,  its  process  and  its  results,  we  yield 
to  other  hands. 


JESUS  AND  THE   GOSPEL.  69 


JESUS    AND    THE     GOSPEL. 

BY  J.   SMITH    DODGE,   Jr. 

TT  is  the  function  of  Jesus  Christ  to  bring  man  into  har- 
mony with  God.     This  is  salvation.     The  announce- 
ment that  this  is  to  be  done  is  the  "  Good  Tidings,"  — 
the  Gospel. 

But  we  must  be  careful  not  to  suppose  this  an  after- 
thought of  God,  or  in  any  way  supplementary  to  his 
original  design.  No  conception  is  worthy  of  the  Infinite 
Creator,  which  does  not  perceive  him  to  have  begun  and 
to  be  prosecuting  his  work  upon  a  plan  perfectly  harmo- 
nious and  infallible.  "  Of  him,  and  through  him,  and  to 
him  are  all  things."  This  plan  is  nothing  else  than  the  pro- 
duction of  beings  in  his  own  image  and,  when  the  process 
is  complete,  in  perfect  harmony  with  himself.  But,  since 
harmony  among  intelHgent  beings  must  be  voluntary,  such 
a  plan  cannot  be  kept  secret ;  it  must  be  made  known  to 
the  objects  of  it.  Even  if  there  were  other  intelligences 
to  observe  this  work,  not  themselves  concerned  in  it,  we 
can  hardly  conceive  that  the  great  Artist  could  fail  to  dis- 
play his  purpose  to  their  eyes  at  every  stage.     To  us  it  is 


70  THE  LATEST    WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

plainly  shown.  Not  only  does  a  survey  from  our  pres- 
ent point  of  view  show  God's  plan  of  reconciHation  every- 
where, but  since  the  earliest  ages  men  have  learned  from 
the  suggestions  of  Nature,  from  the  voice  of  conscience, 
and  from  reasoning,  that  some  great  Power  exists  above 
them  whom  it  becomes  them  to  reverence  and  obey. 
"The  invisible  things  of  him  from  the  creation  of  the 
world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things 
which  are  made."  No  one  who  carefully  appreciates 
the  development  attained  by  man  in  personal  worth  and 
social  order,  without  the  gospel,  will  think  lightly  of  that 
constant  suggestion  of  God's  great  scheme  which  is  woven 
into  the  work  of  his  hands. 

But  all  expression  is  Hmited  by  the  material  which  em- 
bodies it ;  and  every  revelation  of  God's  purpose  was  nec- 
essarily imperfect  until  it  was  set  forth  in  a  human  life. 
In  no  other  way  could  the  plan  of  reconciliation,  the  ideal 
of  complete  harmony  with  God,  be  expressed  to  men 
than  by  an  example  of  that  harmony  reaching  all  the 
depths  of  a  soul,  and  maintained  inviolate  amid  all  out- 
ward conditions.  Such  was  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and 
in  that  life  for  the  first  time  came  fully  within  man's  sight 
the  eternal,  unvaried  plan  on  which  God  built  the  worlds 
and  created  the  souls  of  his  children.  There  has  been  no 
repetition  of  the  example ;  and  therefore  it  stands  to-day 
as  it  stood  at  first,  the  only  perfect  revelation,  the  only 


JESUS  AND   THE  GOSFEL.  7 1 


open  door  by  which  man  may  come  to  God  and  know 
him.  "There  is  none  other  name  under  heaven  given 
among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved."  Therefore, 
there  remains  for  us  and  for  all  men  a  perennial  interest 
in  Jesus  Christ ;  and  instead  of  lapsing  into  the  past,  one 
of  the  honored  throng  who  have  done  their  part  and  given 
place  to  their  successors,  he  stands  in  as  intimate  relation 
to  one  age  as  to  another,  the  unique  man  whom  none 
supplants  and  none  can  spare,  —  "  Jesus  Christ,  the  same 
yesterday,  and  to-day,  and  for  ever." 

But  as  we  approach  this  Captain  of  our  salvation,  our 
personal  hope  and  advantage  are  for  a  httle  eclipsed  by 
the  splendor  of  so  great  a  presence.  Who  is  this  repre- 
sentative of  that  which  all  creation  suggests,  and  all  the  ages 
have  surmised  and  groped  after  ?  Obviously,  the  one  man 
who  has  lived  in  perfect  harmony  with  God,  and  who  has 
enjoyed  this,  not  as  the  late-won  result  of  many  mistakes  and 
efforts,  but  through  all  his  life  as  the  unfolding  of  a  perfect 
flower  from  a  perfect  bud,  must  have  stood  from  the  first 
in  some  relation  of  peculiar  intimacy  with  God.  He  is 
called  his  Son,  first-bom,  only-begotten,  "  the  brightness 
of  his  glory  and  the  express  image  of  his  person ; "  and 
men  have  naturally  speculated  much,  and  strained  the 
meaning  of  every  inspired  word,  to  form  some  adequate 
idea  of  Christ's  relation  to  God.  How  fruitless  the  effort  1 
It  is  the  vain  endeavor  to  sound  an  ocean,  along  whose 


72     THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

shores  the  shallowest  inlet  is  beyond  our  depth.  What 
progress  has  been  made  toward  understanding  the  begin- 
ning or  the  transmission  even  of  physical  life  ?  What  do 
we  know  of  the  mystery  of  parentage  and  the  wonders 
of  heredity  ?  And  when  I  cannot  guess  why  one  of  my 
children  has  his  mother's  eyes,  and  another  his  grand- 
father's hair ;  when  my  mind  refuses  to  grasp  the  paradox 
that  my  offspring,  a  new  being,  individual,  authentic,  is 
yet  a  bundle  of  inherited  qualities,  —  how  shall  I  dare  to 
grope  in  the  recesses  of  Divine  being,  and  pretend  to  ex- 
pound how  the  Son  of  God  was  begotten  ?  When  one 
has  followed  for  a  while  the  speculations  which  have  dark- 
ened this  theme,  he  may  well  turn  away,  with  old  Irenaeus' 
contempt,  from  those  generation-mongers  who  prate,  he 
says,  of  the  begetting  of  the  Son  of  God,  quasi  ipsi  obsfet- 
ricarmt.  When  all  is  said,  we  know  this,  and  can  know 
no  more  :  In  whatever  way  derived  being  may  stand  so 
related  to  the  Underived  as  most  intimately  to  share  his 
nature  and  bear  his  spirit,  in  that  way,  to  us  unknown,  is 
Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God. 

It  is  of  vastly  greater  importance  for  us  to  know  that 
the  harmony  between  the  Saviour  and  his  Father  is  per- 
fect, without  reservation  or  exception,  so  that  in  present- 
ing to  us  the  full  realization  of  God's  great  plan  he  also 
represents  God  himself;  and  that,  not  vaguely  and  far 
off,  but  with  so  complete  a  fulness  that  we  have  no  other 


JESUS  AND    TEE   GOSPEL.  73 

means  of  attaining  any  knowledge  of  God  which  ap- 
proaches the  grandeur  or  the  clearness  of  the  revelation 
in  Jesus  Christ.  We  know  of  God's  character  what  we 
see  in  his  Son ;  and  beyond  this  nothing.  "  I  and  my 
Father  are  one."  "  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the 
Father." 

Now  this  perfect  likeness  excludes  all  idea  of  variance 
or  opposition  between  Father  and  Son ;  and  therefore  it 
excludes  all  those  conceptions  of  Christ's  work  which  im- 
ply such  an  opposition  :  that  is  to  say,  it  excludes  not 
only  those  which  represent  the  Son  as  appeasing  his 
Father's  wrath,  or  as  assuming  a  penalty  for  men  which 
God  will  not  remit ;  but  equally  those  more  subtile  modem 
presentations  which  display  Christ  as  circumventing  the 
metaphysical  necessities  of  Divine  government.  Inasmuch 
as  we  cannot  predicate  of  Christ  any  power  which  God 
has  not,  every  such  scheme  when  simply  stated  implies 
that  Christ  was  more  willing  than  God  to  remove  certain 
difficulties.  Putting  aside,  therefore,  all  such  views,  we 
rest  simply  in  the  assurance  that  the  Son  of  God,  both  in 
the  purpose  and  in  all  the  processes  of  his  work,  is  abso- 
lutely at  one  with  the  Father  whom  he  represents. 

But  the  complete  harmony  of  God  and  man  cannot  be 
represented  by  the  image  of  God  alone,  but  necessarily 
by  the  image  of  God  in  a  man.  Now  this  is  Christ.  We 
do  not  need  the  assurance  of  authority  to  prove  this ; 


74  THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

we  see  that  the  Son  of  God  is  also  the  Son  of  Man. 
Never  did  there  live  a  person  who  drew  to  him  such  uni- 
versal human  sympathy.  Never  was  pain  mourned  as 
his  pains  have  been ;  never  a  heart  to  which  so  many 
hearts  felt  themselves  akin.  It  is  true,  in  him  we  see 
humanity  raised  to  its  highest ;  but  it  is  only  the  more 
truly  human  for  that.  The  representative  of  any  species 
is  not  the  average  but  the  type.  The  heart  of  mankind 
cries  out  at  the  spectacle,  "  Thus  man  should  be  !  "  and  the 
eternal  purpose  of  God  replies,  "Thus  man  shall  be  !" 
Finding  ourselves,  then,  in  the  presence  of  a  man  so 
supremely  exalted  that  he  is  perfectly  in  harmony  with 
God,  and  therefore  perfectly  represents  him  to  us,  we 
attain  the  first  result  of  this  culminating  revelation,  and 
perceive  that  our  nature  partakes  of  the  divine.  God  is 
no  longer  a  mighty  stranger  but  an  august  Kinsman  — 
our  Father.  We  are  not  made  to  flutter  a  moment  and 
fade  away.  We  are  born  to  live  for  ever,  and  the  endless 
vista  of  eternity  offers  scope  and  opportunity  enough  for 
the  purpose  of  God  to  reach  its  full  achievement. 

But  no  mere  spectacle  of  qualities,  however  admirable, 
could  make  the  perfect  Christ,  —  as  the  most  exact  paint- 
ing is  not  the  face  of  Nature,  or  Pygmalion's  statue  is  not 
yet  his  bride  until  it  lives.  It  is  of  the  essence  of  the 
Divine  purpose  that  it  is  efficient,  moving  always  towards 
the  achievement  of  its  aim ;  and  therefore  he  who  repre- 


JESUS  AND    THE  GOSPEL.  75 

sents  it  to   us   must   also  exert  positive   and   persistent 
efficiency,  working  always  to  bring  that  to  pass  which  he 
announces.    This  is  eminently  true  of  Christ.    "  My  Father 
worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work."     This  is  implied  when  he 
is  called  our  Saviour,  —  a  practical,  efficient  helper.     And 
since  he  not  only  was  the  Saviour  of  the  first  century  but 
is  the  Saviour  of  the  nineteenth,  he  must  be  to-day  a  living 
power,  mighty  to  save.     This  vastly  broadens  our  view  of 
Christ.      Instead  of  a  remote,  historical  revelation,   he 
becomes  one  of  the  constant  powers  of  the  world,  an:  in- 
dispensable factor  in  the  problem  of  man's  destiny.     So 
long  as  we  look  upon  the  few  years  of  Christ's  earthly 
life  as  the  full  period  of  his  work,  we  must  blunder  into 
constant  misunderstanding ;  but  our  conception  alike  of 
his  person  and    his    power  rises   to  worthy  proportions, 
when  we  believe  that  those  years  were  but  a  specimen  of 
that  which  our  Saviour  has  been  doing  ever  since,  and 
will  continue  to  do  until  God  shall  be  all  in  all.     It  seems 
impossible  to  doubt,  after  studying  the  New  Testament, 
that  it  teaches  as  a  cardinal  truth  the  persistent  presence 
of  Christ  among  men.     Alluding  to  his  own  death  as  the 
means,  he  said,  "  I  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."     His 
last  words  were  promises  of  continued  help  :  "  I  will  come 
to  you;"  "Abide  in  me  and  I  in  you;"  "Without  me 
ye  can  do  nothing ;  "  "  If  a  man  love  me  .  .  .  my  Father 
will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto  him  and  make  our 


76     THE  LATEST   WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

abode  with  him."  These  are  not  the  words  of  approach- 
ing exile,  but  the  promise  of  continued  presence.  The 
Apostles  never  doubted  that  this  promise  was  fulfilled. 
Peter  said  to  Eneas,  "Jesus  Christ  maketh  thee  whole." 
Paul  saw  Jesus  near  Damascus,  and  was  taught  by  him  in 
Arabia ;  professed  that  he  could  do  all  things  "  through 
Christ  which  strengtheneth  me,"  and  foretold  that  he  must 
reign  till  he  had  subdued  every  foe.  The  greatest  con- 
quests of  the  Church  were  wrought  in  the  first  age,  before 
theology  was  born,  and  when  to  be  a  Christian  was  simply 
to  trust  in  the  present  and  eternal  help  of  Christ,  And 
whenever  in  later  times  the  gospel  has  conspicuously  en- 
nobled men  and  saved  them,  the  measure  of  its  success 
has  been  the  faith  of  men  in  the  present  Saviour. 

But  even  this  faith  has  been  for  the  most  part  very  nar- 
rowly held.  The  Church  has  believed  in  Christ  as  present 
.in  the  Church,  the  guide  of  the  Church,  the  Saviour  of 
them  that  believe.  The  broader  view  of  our  time  discerns 
that  such  a  limitation  is  impossible  for  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.  Whatever  is  best  in  the  Church  is  finding  itself 
more  and.  more  akin  to  social  forces  and  conditions  ;  and 
if  the  destinies  of  the  Church  are  given  into  the  hands  of 
One,  then  the  same  hands  must  grasp  and  control  what- 
ever concerns  the  fortunes  of  men.  In  such  a  view  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  perpetual  leader  of  every  power  of  good  in  the 
world.    PoUtics  and  legislation,  commerce  and  agriculture. 


JESUS   AND  THE   GOSPEL.  77 


literature,  science,  and  art  flourish  by  his  help  or  shrink  at 
his  rebuke.  He  as  much  controls  the  Turkish  war  and 
Chinese  immigration  as  he  does  the  American  Bible 
Society  or  the  Universalist  General  Convention.  "All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth."  He 
who  can  climb  this  Pisgah,  looks  upon  the  world  with 
opened  eyes.  It  is  no  longer  the  doubtful  battle-field  of 
forces  he  does  not  understand ;  he  no  longer  sighs  out 
his  weary  lamentation,  "  How  long,  O  Lord  ! "  but  he 
looks  on  the  wondrous  unrolling  panorama  of  time  with 
the  vision  of  eternity.  All  things  are  become  new,  for  all 
are  under  the  controlling  hand  of  Christ,  and  tend  towards 
the  assured  end  of  harmony  between  man  and  God. 

But  all  this  is  the  external,  the  objective  view  of  the 
Saviour's  work.  It  is  the  double  glory  of  Christ,  that 
while  he  bears  such  matchless  sway  as  Master  and  Lord 
he  has  intimate  contact  with  each  soul  severally,  and  seeks 
and  wins  each  with  a  love  as  personal  and  tender  as  if 
there  were  no  soul  besides.  It  follows  from  the  broad 
view  that  Christ  disposes  those  influences  and  opportuni- 
ties which  mould  from  without  the  general  life  of  each 
man  as  a  member  of  the  race.  Country,  parentage,  edu- 
cation, society,  must  all  enter  into  the  scheme  which 
determines  my  life ;  but  all  these  I  share  with  kindred, 
neighbors,  and  mankind.  Besides  these  I  have  secret 
experiences  within,  —  mine,  yet  not  wholly  of  myself,  — 


78  THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

which  I  must  attribute  to  the  overshadowing  influence  of 
this  mighty  Friend  and  Saviour.  Let  us,  therefore,  con- 
sider what  Jesus  Christ  does  for  individual  souls  in  the 
sphere  of  their  spiritual  development. 

The  most  general  operation  of  Christ  within  the  souls 
of  men  is  the  giving  of  strength ;  and  no  theory  of  sal- 
vation can  possibly  bear  the  test  of  long  experience, 
which  relies  on  the  unaided  strength  of  even  the  best  and 
strongest  men.  Other  ministrations  of  the  Saviour  are 
appropriate  to  special  epochs  in  our  experience ;  but  at 
all  times  we  need  the  strength  he  gives.  This  is  the 
only  assurance  of  the  loftiest  saint,  and  the  meanest  sin- 
ner with  this  may  quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  adver- 
sary. Let  it  then  be  understood  that  at  every  stage  the 
invigorating  help  of  Christ  responds  to  our  least  desire 
for  righteousness. 

But  when  we  attempt  to  pass  further,  the  work  of  Christ 
within  the  soul  appears  more  complex,  because  it  seeks 
the  overthrow  of  our  manifold  enemy,  sin.  Many  of  his 
experiences  man  shares  with  other  works  of  God,  from  the 
gravitation  which  allies  him  with  the  stone,  to  the  social 
instincts  which  link  him  with  the  bee.  But  sin  is  man's 
specialty ;  and  it  is  so  because  man  alone  has  self-deter- 
mining power.  Alone  of  all  God's  earthly  works,  man  has 
an  initiative  ;  can  imitate  from  afar  the  creative  word,  "  Let 
there  be  light !  "     Nothing  in  Nature  suggests  that  matter 


JESUS  AND    THE   GOSPEL. 


79 


or  brute  intelligence  offers  the  slightest  resistance  to  the 
law  of  its  being.  We  do  not  think  of  the  cataract  as  re- 
luctant to  fall,  nor  of  the  shore  as  complaining  that  it  must 
withstand  the  sea ;  the  beaver  never  grumbles  at  his  toil, 
nor  the  bird  at  his  long  migration.  Man  alone  can 
choose,  and  therefore  he  alone  can  resist.  But  when  we 
examine  why  man,  having  the  power  to  choose,  sets  his  will 
against  the  will  of  God,  (which  is  the  essence  of  sin,)  the 
inquiry  takes  us  into  unsounded  depths.  For  this  dis- 
cussion it  is  not  necessary  that  those  depths  should  be  es- 
sayed. It  is  enough  to  distinguish  that  the  causes  of  man's 
sin  group  themselves  in  two  classes  :  he  either  sins  because 
he  does  not  clearly  understand  the  nature  and  the  relations 
of  his  choice,  or,  understanding  these,  the  self-determining 
will  chooses  to  array  itself  against  the  Infinite.  This  is  not 
offered  as  a  classification  according  to  the  sharp  require- 
ments of  speculative  reasoning,  but  only  as  useful  and 
sufficient  for  an  understanding  of  the  necessary  remedies. 
What  it  here  concerns  us  to  perceive  is  that  there  are  two 
phases  of  sin,  for  each  of  which  the  Gospel  oifers  an  ample 
cure,  —  sins  of  the  twilight,  and  sins  against  light.  And  to 
these  corresponds  a  double  operation  of  the  Saviour  upon 
the  souls  of  men,  by  which  on  the  one  hand  he  enlightens 
th^  consciousness,  and  on  the  other  converts  the  will. 
To  lose  sight  of  either  is  fatally  to  mistake  the  process  of 
redemption.     Their  work  is  inseparably  blended  ;  but  we 


So  THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

shall  need  to  examine  each  in  turn  before  we  can  appre- 
ciate their  united  power  and  promise. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  let  us  clearly  understand  that 
there  is  sin,  and  grievous  sin,  which  is  so  largely  due  to 
human  ignorance  that  removal  of  the  ignorance  would  have 
prevented  the  sin.  This  is  sufficiently  proved  by  certain 
New  Testament  passages  which  assert  it  of  those  who  cru- 
cified our  Lord.  Their  act  is  presented  as  sin.  Jesus 
prays  for  their  forgiveness  ;  Peter  tells  the  Jews  that  they 
'^  by  wicked  hands  have  crucified  and  slain  "  him  ;  Stephen 
calls  them  Christ's  "  betrayers  and  murderers."  And  yet 
Jesus  asks  their  forgiveness  on  the  ground  that  "  they 
know  not  what  they  do  ; "  Peter  tells  the  same  Jews,  "  I 
wot,  brethren,  that  through  ignorance  ye  did  it ; "  and 
Paul  says  that  if  the  princes  of  this  world  had  known  the 
hidden  wisdom  of  God,  "  they  would  not  have  crucified 
the  Lord  of  glory." 

It  is  not  required  that  this  essay  examine  minutely  the 
question  how  men  can  be  responsible  for  the  results  of 
their  ignorance.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  term  is  not 
used  absolutely,  but  relatively.  An  idiot  does  not  sin, 
because  he  knows  absolutely  nothing.  So  no  man  can 
be  blamed  for  stumbling  in  perfect  darkness.  But  if  it 
be  only  the  darkness  of  twilight,  in  which  greater  caution 
would  have  saved  him,  the  careless  man  may  be  justly 
blamed  for  falling.     And  the  more  carefully  we  consider, 


JESUS  AND   THE   GOSPEL.  8 1 

the  more  widely  do  we  see  that  men  walk  in  moral  twi- 
light. Hereditary  bias  of  mind,  education,  prevalent 
public  opinion,  the  sophistry  of  others,  the  force  of  pas- 
sion, the  intricacy  of  worldly  interests,  —  all  tend  pow- 
erfully to  obscure  the  moral  sense.  Add  to  these  the 
distracting  force  of  sorrow  and  disappointment,  and  the 
contagion  of  evil  habit  in  others,  and  how  vast  a  portion  of 
human  wickedness  is  accounted  for  ! 

Now  the  cure  for  all  this  part  of  man's  sin  is  knowl- 
edge, not  certainly  of  the  head  alone,  but  of  the  heart  as 
well,  a  clear  and  spiritual  perception  of  the  great  sanctions 
of  duty,  —  God's  infinite  goodness  to  us  and  our  bound- 
less obligation  to  him.  All  who  deal  practically  with  the 
degraded  learn  this  by  their  experience.  Christ  knew  it 
well,  and  hence  he  so  often  speaks  of  his  light.  Of  course, 
very  much  of  his  illuminating  ministry  is  of  the  broad  and 
general  character.  His  revelation  of  the  Divine  love  is  in 
the  world,  once  for  all.  We  need  no  other  Calvary.  In  the 
same  way  he  sustains  the  activity  and  constant  testimony 
of  his  Church,  the  diffusion  of  the  Bible  and  its  principles, 
the  progressive  enlightenment  of  society,  the  stupendous 
demonstrations  of  divine  truth  which  history  and  science 
from  time  to  time  afford.  All  this  is  general,  like  the 
^sunlight.  But  a  more  peculiar,  inward  operation  is 
needed.  There  is  no  sunlight  for  the  blind.  At  every 
moment  the  sun  is  rising  somewhere,  but  it  is  still  night 

6 


82  THE  LATEST    WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

for  me  until  i?iy  horizon  brightens.  And  multitudes  of 
those  who  sin  in  ignorance  are  in  this  case.  For  their 
neighbors  the  sun  is  shining  clearly,  but  for  them  there 
is  the  lack  of  perceptive  power,  a  spiritual  amaurosis, 
which  makes  perpetual  night. 

Has  Christ  no  more  for  these  than  simply  to  shine 
upon  them  as  he  does  on  all?  We  shall  find  the  answer 
if  we  consider  how  new  light  penetrates  our  own  minds. 
Hitherto,  living  without  some  portion  of  truth,  I  have 
thought  my  system  complete ;  when  suddenly  a  sugges- 
tive word,  an  unusual  event,  or  the  untraced  action  of 
my  mind  brings  to  me  a  new  perception,  as  authentic  and 
imperative  as  any.  I  see  that  this  also  is  truth.  And  yet 
if  I  try  to  explain  this  process  I  do  not  fully  succeed.  I 
can  only  say  that  I  now  see  what  I  never  saw  before, 
though  it  was  always  true.  It  would  seem,  therefore, 
that  a  certain  grade  of  development  is  needed  before  the 
mind  can  grasp  a  given  truth ;  so  that  only  he  who  knows 
what  is  in  man  can  tell  what  length  of  time  and  what  kind 
of  experience  are  the  necessary  conditions  of  seeing  that 
which  is  before  our  eyes.  Hence  the  simplest  explana- 
tion is  that  those  who  seem  blind  on  this  side  or  that  have 
not  yet  grown  to  full  capacity  of  vision  ;  and  it  must  be  an 
inseparable  part  of  his  function  who  came  to  enlighten  the 
world,  that  he  should  direct  and  further  in  each  soul 
severally  this  process  of  attainment.     Let  us  therefore  con- 


JESUS  AND   TEE   GOSPEL.  S^ 

ceive  Christ  as  perpetually  giving  not  only  light,  but  sight ; 
and  this  with  all  the  breadth  of  administration  and  all 
the  minuteness  of  detail  which  have  been  already  sug- 
gested as  marking  his  work. 

It  is  important  to  consider  how  far  he  may  carry  this. 
It  is  coming  to  be  admitted  that  for  the  heathen,  and  for 
those  whom  their  surroundings  imperatively  restrain  from 
knowing  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  there  must 
remain  a  future  opportunity  to  see  and  believe.  In  every 
world  the  healing  touch  of  Christ  must  reach  forth  to 
those  who  were  bom  blind.  But  why  to  them  alone? 
It  is  the  cardinal  point  of  the  Gospel  that  Jesus  Christ 
came  to  save  sinners.  And  since  one  of  the  surest  effects 
of  sin  is  to  produce  that  spiritual  blindness  which  stands 
in  the  way  of  repentance,  what  office  can  better  fit  the 
Saviour  of  sinners  than  to  restore  this  palsied  sense,  and 
give  sight  anew  to  those  who  have  blinded  themselves  ? 
And  how  can  death  intercept  the  saving  work  of  him  who 
"hath  abolished  death"? 

Here  then  is  the  answer  to  that  portentous  formula 
which  has  been  proclaimed  as  the  impregnable  fortress 
of  those  despairing  doctrines  that  limit  the  success  of 
Christ.  "  Repeated  sin  impairs  the  judgment,  and  the 
impaired  judgment  sins  again."  It  is  sadly  and  tremen- 
dously true.  Entangled  in  this  knot,  the  sinner  grows  less 
and  less   able   to  free  himself.     But  "This  is  a  faithful 


84      THE  LATEST  WORD  OF   UNIVERSALTSM. 

saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to "  cut  this  knot.  Whenever  a 
sinner  has  been  saved  who  had  not  been  wilfully  sinning 
against  light,  this  has  been  done  for  him ;  and  whenever 
this  shall  be  done  for  any  such  sinner,  he  will  be  saved. 
Of  course  we  can  seldom  trace  the  details  of  the  process. 
We  cannot  often  tell  why  our  own  convictions  were 
formed  at  the  time  they  were,  and  not  before  or  after. 
Some  happy  combination  of  experience  which  we  did 
not  arrange,  some  stroke  from  a  hidden  hand,  opens 
our  vision  wider,  and  reveals  at  once  the  truth  we  newly 
see  and  the  grace  which  leads  us.  Upon  the  Saviour  of 
the  world  is  laid  the  sublime  duty  of  doing  this  in  every 
particular  for  every  human  soul.  In  the  vast  survey  the 
imaginary  limit  of  death  fades  from  view.  Lord  of  all 
worlds,  no  bounds  can  stay  him.  He  labors  and  waits  ; 
now  leading  his  beloved  pupils  through  the  travail  of  long 
experience,  now  flashing  the  destined  glory  on  their  eyes 
which  see  at  last.  It  is  a  mean  and  captious  spirit  which 
arrays  itself  with  bristling  questions  of  When  and  Where 
and  How.  It  is  the  highest  nobility  of  Christian  faith, 
which  believes  that  to  every  Bartimeus  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
will  come  at  last  with  quickening  touch. 

But  the  saddest  view  of  sin  remains.  However  large 
we  may  estimate  the  share  of  ignorance  to  be  in  this  dark 
picture,  it  still  is  true  that  sin  is  not  simply  a  mistake,  — 


JESUS  AND   TEE   GOSPEL.  8$ 

it  includes  the  mil  opposed  to  God.  We  cannot  often, 
perhaps  we  never  can,  wholly  separate  the  two.  Probably 
the  most  wilful  sinner  sees  through  a  glass  darkly.  But 
he  has  had  a  happy  experience  who  cannot  recall  hours 
when,  with  remembrance  of  the  past  and  with  thought  of 
God,  he  yet  sinned  for  no  other  perceptible  reason  than 
that  he  did  not  heartily  will  to  refrain.  It  is  not  easy  to 
analyze  this  process.  He  who  has  done  it  presently 
wonders  why.  The  simple  fact  is  that  the  will,  seeing 
before  it  the  way  of  duty  and  another  way,  chooses  un- 
constrained the  other.  Expected  pleasure  and  force  of 
habit  count  for  much,  but  the  perversity  of  sin  sometimes 
opposes  them  both ;  and  perhaps,  at  the  bottom  of  all, 
the  determining  motive  of  wilful  sin  is  the  fascination  of 
self- asserting  defiance.  It  is  exhilarating  to  oppose  and 
silence  a  man ;  and  the  greater  his  power  the  keener  the 
thrill.  Suppose,  then,  I  defy  and  silence  the  mightiest 
power  I  know,  —  that  voice  within  ! 

Now  if  there  are  degrees  in  the  Saviour's  love,,  and 
if  we  may  form  any  conception  of  its  workings  from  the 
analogy  of  human  affection,  it  is  towards  these  sturdy 
sinners  that  he  -will  most  unconquerably  yearn.     Saul  is 

the  chosen  vessel.     But  what  can  Christ  do  for  them? 

« 

We  do  not  know  that  force  can  bend  the  will.  It  can  of 
course  produce  compliance,  but  we  have  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  even  Infinite  force  can  compel  real  assent. 


86  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

And  yet  the  will  can  certainly  be  bent,  and  by  what  we 
call  the  feeblest  of  agencies.  Alexander  conquers  the 
world,  but  Thais  leads  him  at  her  whim  ;  the  father  rules 
the  family,  but  the  baby  rules  the  father.  Or,  on  the 
nobler  side,  we  all  know  how  great  is  the  influence  of 
a  respected  and  honored  friend.  The  reasons  which 
seemed  trifling  in  another  mouth  are  invincible  when  he 
presents  them ;  our  stubbornest  resolution  melts  away 
when  he  entreats.  This  is  not  compulsion  but  persuasion  ; 
and  it  produces  such  true  conversion  of  the  will,  that  no 
promises  are  so  much  to  be  trusted  as  those  given  by  a 
strong  man  to  oblige  a  beloved  friend.  The  precise 
method  of  this  process  of  persuasion  we  do  not  know, 
and  it  is  probably  inscrutable.  We  can  well  trace  its 
antecedents,  we  can  immediately  grasp  its  consequences ; 
but  that  supreme  moment  when  the  image  of  God  within 
us  says  "  I  will,"  witnesses  a  true  creative  act,  an  absolute 
beginning,  and  is  beyond  our  ken.  Since  then  we  cannot 
comprehend  the  act,  we  can  no  more  comprehend  how 
persuasion  influences  that  act.  But  we  do  know  that  this 
influence  is  so  powerful  as  to  surpass  all  compulsion,  and 
turn  a  will  of  iron.  What  will  has  ever  been  so  stubborn, 
that  some  one  had  not  this  power  over  it?  A  favorite 
child,  a  wife  or  mother,  some  object  of  affection  worthy 
or  unworthy  finds  the  hidden  talisman,  and  the  rock  opens 
at  a  word. 


JESUS  AND   THE   GOSPEL.  87 

Now  this  is  Christ's  crowning  work,  to  win  men's  hearts 
and  thereby  persuade  their  wills  into  harmony  with  God. 
This  is  the  atonement ;  for  atonement  is  reconciliation, 
nothing  more  and  (God  be  praised  !  )  nothing  less.  What- 
ever other  suggestions  the  word  now  bears  are  accretions 
from  the  theological  stream,  and  no  part  of  its  vital  mean- 
ing. It  occurs  but  once  in  the  English  Testament,  "  Our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  we  have  now  received  the 
atonement,"  —  Rom.  v.  11.  But  the  Greek  behind  this 
much  abused  word  is  not  uncommon  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  is  elsewhere  rendered  reconciliation,  as  in  2  Cor.  v. 
20,  —  "  We  pray  you,  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled 
[atoned]  to  God."  It  was  for  this  then  that  Christ  came, 
the  embodiment  of  the  Divine  love,  the  Divine  solicitude. 
He  lived  and  died  not  to  appease  an  impossible  wrath, 
not  to  circumvent  an  intangible  difficulty,  but  to  fill  the 
world  with  proclamation  and  example  of  the  unspeakable 
tenderness  of  God.  The  mocking,  doubting  world  asked 
in  unbelief,  "  How  much  does  God  love  his  creatures?" 
And  the  cross  on  Calvary  bore  for  answer  the  immortal 
splendor  of  these  words  :  "  God  so  loved  the  world."  Or, 
as  Paul  tersely  puts  the  argument  of  the  cross,  "  He  that 
spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all, 
how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things? " 

It  is  by  the  efficacy,  then,  of  such  love  that  Jesus  per- 
suades the  stubborn  will  of  men  and  reconciles  them  to 


88  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  VNIVERSALISM. 

God.  Nor  is  this  any  hypothetical  or  uncertain  process. 
Let  us  recall  each  the  moment  of  his  life  when  God 
seemed  nearest  and  best  to  him,  and  say  whether  it  was 
attained  by  any  calculation  of  results  or  process  of  reason- 
ing, or  whether  it  came  by  the  sweet  persuasion  of  Divine 
love.  It  is  "  by  the  mercies  of  God  "  that  the  Gospel 
always  beseeches  us.  And  so  the  Saviour  besets  all  men 
with  these  gracious  solicitations.  There  are  many  of  our 
neighbors  to  whose  hearts  we  can  find  no  access,  and 
can  exert  no  persuasion  on  their  wills.  But  again  and 
again  we  have  seen  such  men  yield  to  an  inward  attrac- 
tion,—  the  power  of  the  Saviour's  love  insinuated  into 
the  citadel  of  their  stubbornness  by  ways  known  only  to 
Him  who  made  them.  What  if  the  process  is  sometimes 
long  and  doubtful  in  our  eyes  ?  Does  not  almost  every 
convert  testify  that  he  had  long  heard  and  resisted  an 
entreating  voice  within,  which  he  can  resist  no  longer? 
And  we  little  think  what  secret  experiences  are  agitating 
the  hearts  of  some  who  will  not  confess  to  us  what  they 
cannot  hide  from  themselves. 

We  are  to  conceive,  then,  of  the  work  of  Christ  as 
cohibining  all  these  methods  in  one  persistent  and  har- 
monious process.  He  floods  the  world  with  light,  "  The 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  "  he  directs  singly  and  combined  all  the  agencies 
of  human  advancement  and  well-being ;  he  adjusts  amid 


JESUS  AND  THE   GOSPEL.  89 


all  this  throng  the  vicissitudes  of  each  man's  life  in  accord- 
ance with  the  spiritual  needs  of  each ;  he  conducts  the 
slow  unfolding  in  each  of  that  visual  power  which  alone 
can  enable  him  to  see  the  light  and  what  the  Hght  reveals  ; 
and  when  the  wondrous  prospect  is  spread  full  before  the 
opened  eyes,  so  that  the  awakened  soul  comprehends  the 
Infinite  goodness,  this  mighty  Son  of  God  casts  about  it 
the  persuasion  of  entreating  love,  and  beseeches  the  re- 
sisting \vill.  Can  that  will,  can  any  will,  resist  for  ever? 
Many  converging  lines  of  reasoning,  and  many  bold  utter- 
ances of  revelation  combine  to  prove  that  it  is  not  given 
to  any  human  mil  always  to  withstand  such  entreaty ;  but 
above  them  all  in  clearness  and  authority  stands  the 
promise  of  Christ  himself,  signifying  what  death  he  should 
die  :  "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw 
all  men  unto  me."  This  is  the  work  of  the  cross,  and  of 
that  surpassing  love  which  the  cross  displays. 

But  salvation  is  not  complete  when  the  causes  of  sin 
have  been  met  by  the  Saviour's  light  and  love ;  for,  as 
he  actually  encounters  us,  there  are  already  accumulated 
results  of  past  sin  which  encumber  and  defeat  us.  Sin 
produces  in  cumulative  degrees  spiritual  paralysis  and 
shameful  memories.  The  converted  will  can  hardly  enjoy 
for  a  moment  its  new  delight,  before  it  is  seized  with  a 
sense  of  its  incapacity  to  maintain  this  better  estate.  And 
perhaps  the  entire  range  of  human  experience  does  not 


90     THE  LATEST  WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

present  a  disappointment  more  keen  and  bitter  than  that 
with  which  a  soul  newly  desirous  of  virtue  finds  itself 
again  in  the  snare  of  its  old  sin,  and  recognizes  its  palsy. 
Or,  in  happier  moments  of  somewhat  assured  and  tranquil 
virtue,  how  we  shrink  and  cower  in  spirit  as  we  look  on 
the  ineffaceable  memory  of  the  past,  and  think  "That 
was  I !  "  So  powerful  is  this  inheritance  from  our  past, 
that  if  there  is  no  deHverance  from  it,  if  the  arm  of  Christ 
can  only  beckon  and  his  love  only  entreat,  then  salvation 
is  but  a  name,  and  the  woe  of  sin  eternal.  But  it  is  not 
so.  The  first  impulse  of  the  converted  soul,  assailed  by  its 
former  tyrant,  has  ever  been  to  flee  to  its  Saviour,  and  it 
has  ever  found  him  a  sure  defence.  So,  too,  the  ennobling 
intercourse  of  the  awakened  soul  with  Christ,  by  some 
blessed  alchemy,  transmutes  the  shameful  remembrance 
of  past  sins,  when  once  they  are  truly  past,  into  humble 
and  adoring  faith. 

It  is  not  within  the  purpose  of  this  essay  to  trace  out 
these  processes  of  regeneration,  nor  is  it  permitted  here 
to  dwell  upon  the  Christian's  joy  and  peace  in  believing, 
the  sweet  satisfaction  of  purity  regained,  of  fears  replaced 
by  faith,  the  happy  present  and  the  nameless  glory  of  the 
future.  It  must  suffice  to  have  suggested  the  far-reaching 
outline  of  the  perfect  work  of  Jesus.  When,  where,  by 
what  details  of  method  it  will  be  achieved,  concerns  us 
little.     It  is   the  priceless  treasure  of  our  faith  that  the 


JESUS  AND    THE   GOSPEL.  91 

Saviour  cannot  desist  from  this  reconciling  work  until 
every  soul  that  God  has  made  shall  be,  through  all  its 
depths,  in  harmony  with  him.  The  task  is  vast  and 
difficult  beyond  conception,  and  its  accomplishment 
would  be  plainly  impossible  if  it  were  committed  to  any 
weaker  hands  than  those  of  the  Son  of  God.  The  ma- 
lignity and  tenacity  of  sin,  the  hardness  of  human  hearts, 
the  unimaginable  depths  of  human  ignorance,  the  slowness 
with  which  the  weary  ages  drag  their  length  along,  devel- 
oping constantly  new  forms  of  sin  and  new  discourage- 
ments, —  lay  upon  us  in  our  times  of  weakness  the  terrors 
of  a  nightmare,  and  paralyze  the  voice  of  faith.  But 
presently  a  loving  touch  breaks  the  fearful  spell,  and  the 
voice  which  saved  us  of  old  now  quickens  us  again,  "  Ye 
beheve  in  God,  beUeve  also  in  me." 


92  THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 


REPENTANCE,    FORGIVENESS,    SALVATION. 

BY    E.    C.    SWEETSER. 

A  MONO  the  many  subjects  which  engage  human 
■^^  attention,  none  is  more  important  than  the  one 
now  before  us.  Salvation  —  the  word  being  used  in  its 
most  comprehensive  and  scriptural  meaning  —  is  the 
noblest  theme  which  our  minds  can  dwell  on,  and  the 
worthiest  object  which  our  souls  can  pursue.  Its  accom- 
plishment for  all  mankind  is  the  purpose  for  which  Jesus 
Christ  came  into  the  world ;  it  is  that  for  which  he  lived 
and  labored,  suffered,  died,  and  rose  again ;  it  is  that  for 
which,  when  he  ascended  up  on  high,  he  gave  gifts  unto 
men,  and  estabhshed  the  Church,  with  its  "  differences 
of  administrations  "  and  "  diversities  of  operations  ;  "  and 
it  is  that  for  which  the  Church,  in  its  various  branches, 
exists  and  works  at  the  present  day.  Universalist  Chris- 
tians keep  this  purpose  in  view  not  less,  at  least,  than 
those  of  other  denominations.  Like  every  true  follower 
of  him  whom  the  Father  sent  "  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,"  the  Universalist  labors  with  an  eye  that  is  single 
to  what  he   supposes  to  be  the  salvation  for  which  his 


SAL  VATION.  93 


"  Captain "  lived  and  died.  He  differs,  however,  in 
some  respects  with  the  majority  of  his  fellow  Christians 
in  regard  to  the  nature  of  that  salvation  and  the  means 
by  which  it  must  be  accomplished,  as  also  in  regard  to 
the  final  extent  of  it.  To  set  forth  the  Universalist  idea 
of  this  subject  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  essay. 

The  theme  naturally  divides  itself  into  three  parts  :  the 
Nature,  the  Methods,  and  the  Extent  of  salvation.  To 
the  first  two  we  shall  mainly  confine  ourselves. 

I.  What  is  the  salvation  which  the  gospel  holds  out  to 
us?  Of  what  kind  of  salvation  is  Jesus  the  Captain? 
Not  salvation  from  the  demands  of  justice  surely;  nor 
salvation  from  the  punishment  which  we  deserve  for  our 
sins ;  nor  from  a  future  state  of  endless  torment,  or,  in 
popular  language,  from  hell.  The  demands  of  justice 
must  be  met  to  the  uttermost,  and  if  men  deserved  ever- 
lasting punishment,  they  would  have  to  endure  it  beyond 
all  contingency ;  for  God's  law  is  without  variableness  or 
shadow  of  turning,  and  He  "  by  no  means  "  clears  the 
guilty  (Ex.  xxiv.  7).  When  a  sin  is  committed,  its  legiti- 
mate consequences  must  follow  inevitably.  There  is  no 
possible  salvation  from  them.  God  cannot,  without  con- 
tradicting himself,  release  a  sinner  from  a  jot  or  a  tittle  of 
the  punishment  which  he  merits,  nor  has  He  any  desire  to 
do  so  ;  for  the  punishment  is  necessary,  not  only  to  vindi- 
cate the  integrity  of  the  law,  but  also  to  subserve  the 


94  THE  LATEST   WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

transgressor's  own  profit.  It  is  demanded  by  mercy  no 
less  than  by  justice  (Heb.  xii.  7-10).  To  save  a  sinner 
from  the  punishment  which  he  really  deserves  would  be  to 
save  him  from  that  which  he  is  sorely  in  need  of.  Such 
salvation  would  be  an  injury  rather  than  a  benefit  to  him. 
The  evil  from  which  men  have  need  to  be  saved  is  an 
actual  and  present  evil,  an  evil  which  holds  them  now  in 
its  grasp,  enslaving  their  souls,  preventing  their  progress, 
and  shutting  them  out  from  those  heavenly  experiences 
which,  othenvise,  they  might  enjoy.  It  is  sin  itself,  the 
arch-enemy  of  humanity,  which  has  held  mankind  in  its 
dreadful  bondage  ever  since  the  world  began.  Sin  is, 
demonstrably,  the  source  of  nearly  all  our  woes ;  and  to 
one  who  understands  its  nature,  it  is  evident  that,  apart 
from  its  terrible  sequences,  it  is  itself  the  worst  of  evils, 
the  thing  from  which  we  need  salvation  far  more  than 
from  any  thing  else  that  concerns  us.  The  Bible  teaches 
that  sinners  are  lost,  —  not  simply  that  they  will  be  lost, 
or  that  they  are  in  danger  of  being  lost,  but  that  they  are 
lost  by  the  simple  fact  of  being  in  sin,  —  lost  to  virtue, 
lost  to  truth,  lost  to  the  higher  joys  of  life, — yes,  even 
lost  to  life  itself.  It  calls  them  "dead"  (Eph.  ii.  11), 
and  speaks  of  them  as  being  in  their  "graves"  (Ezek. 
xxxvii.  12)  and  in  a  state  of  "corruption"  (Rom.viii.  21). 
Christ's  mission  was  to  save  mankind  from  this  lost  con- 
dition, this  condition  of  slavery,  this  spiritual  lifelessness 


SALVATION.  95 


and  moral  decay.  Before  he  was  born  it  was  said  of  him 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  Thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus,  for 
he  shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins"  (Matt.  i.  21). 
When  he  entered  upon  his  public  ministry,  it  was  said  of 
him,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world  "  (John  i.  29)  ;  and  in  his  first  public 
announcement,  so  far  as  we  know,  of  the  work  which  he 
had  come  to  do,  he  said,  "  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
the  poor ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted, 
to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recovering  of 
sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised, 
to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord  "  (Luke  iv. 
18-19).  St.  Peter  said  of  him,  "God,  having  raised  up 
His  Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you  in  turning  away  every 
one  of  you  from  his  iniquities"  (Acts  iii.  26).  St.  John 
says,  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all 
sin"  (i  John  i.  7);  and  St.  Paul  says,  "The  grace 
of  God,  which  bringeth  salvation  unto  all  men,  hath  ap- 
peared, teaching  us  that  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly 
lusts,  we  should  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this 
present  world,  looking  for  that  blessed  hope,  and  the 
glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  who  gave  himself  for  us  that  he  might  redeem  us 
from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  us  unto  himself,  a  peculiar 
people  zealous  of  good  works  "  (Titus  ii.  11-14);  ^'^^ 


96     THE  LATEST    WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

again,  "  Grace  be  to  you,  and  peace,  from  God  the  Father, 
and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  gave  himself  for  our  sins, 
that  he  might  deHver  us  from  this  present  evil  world, 
according  to  the  will  of  God  and  our  Father  "  (Gal.  i. 
3,  4).  In  each  of  these  statements,  the  teaching  is  that 
the  mission  of  Jesus  is  to  save  us  from  a  present  evil, 
from  our  worldly  captivity,  from  our  bondage  to  sin. 
There  is  no  intimation  in  these,  or  in  any  other  words  of 
the  Bible,  that  he  came  to  save  us  from  endless  torment 
or  from  the  punishment  which  we  deserve  on  account  of 
our  sins.  The  salvation  which  the  Bible  holds  up  to  our 
view  is  not  exemption  from  the  consequences  of  our 
sinful  behavior,  but  redemption  from  the  very  disposition 
to  sin ;  and  no  one  can  understand  the  deep  significance 
and  transcendent  importance  of  the  Saviour's  mission 
unless  he  looks  upon  sin  from  a  Biblical  stand-point, 
as  being  not  merely  an  occasion  of  punishment,  but 
itself  the  most  hideous  and  hateful  of  things.  He  who 
thinks  only  of  being  saved  from  future  torment,  and 
who,  were  it  not  for  his  fear  of  hell,  would  choose  to 
continue  in  his  sins,  has  yet  to  learn  the  alphabet  of 
Christian  salvation. 

But  sin  is  not  the  only  thing  which  we  need  to  be  saved 
from.  Mere  sinlessness  is  by  no  means  the  equivalent  of 
salvation.  A  saint  in  possession  of  his  heavenly  inheri- 
tance is  something  more  than  a  babe  in  its  cradle.     He 


SALVATION.  97 


has  something  more  than  innocence  to  present  before  the 
throne  of  God.  He  has  wisdom  ;  he  has  virtue  ;  he  has 
love  ;  he  has  holiness  ;  he  is  "  perfect  and  entire,  wanting 
nothing  "  (James  i.  4) .  By  nature  we  are  lacking  in  almost 
every  thing  which  is  necessary  to  our  inheritance  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom.  Though  we  are  children  of  God  and 
heirs  of  His  glory,  destined  at  last  to  reign  with  Him.  in 
righteousness  and  peace  and  joy,  yet  at  present  w-e  are 
unable  to  possess  the  inheritance,  not  only  because  of 
our  sinfulness,  but  also  because  of  our  ignorance,  our 
weakness,  and  our  general  state  of  imperfection.  We 
come  into  this  world,  not  in  a  state  of  total  depravity, 
but  in  a  state  of  total  imperfection,  having  no  knowledge, 
no  strength,  no  virtue,  no  graces,  —  mere  living  souls, 
like  the  first  man  Adam.  Our  powers  are  all  in  embryo, 
and  though  at  first  we  are  unconscious  of  the  vast  dis- 
parity bet\veen  what  we  are  and  what  we  are  meant  to  be, 
yet  it  soon  becomes  more  or  less  apparent,  and  causes  us 
more  or  less  trouble  and  misery.  We  find  ourselves 
hindered  on  every  side  by  a  sense  of  our  inabihty,  incom- 
pleteness, and  insufficiency.  Our  aspirations  far  exceed 
our  attainments,  and,  like  caged  birds,  which,  longing  for 
the  open  air,  beat  vainly  against  their  prison  bars,  we  fret 
and  strive  against  the  restrictions  which  the  imperfection 
of  our  nature  imposes  upon  us.  We  cannot  be  com- 
pletely at  peace  until  those  restrictions  are  taken  away. 

7 


98     THE  LATEST    WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

To  be  saved  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  we  must  be 
freed  not  only  from  our  sins,  but  from  every  kind  of 
imperfection.  And  such  is  the  salvation  to  which  Jesus 
calls  us ;  such  is  the  salvation  of  which  he  is  the  Captain. 
To  lead  us  into  such  salvation,  he  came  into  the  world  as 
a  feeble  babe,  taking  not  upon  himself  the  nature  of 
angels,  but  the  nature  of  men,  being  born  as  we  are  born, 
into  a  condition  of  imperfection  like  that  of  every  other 
babe,  that  he  might  grow  up  into  perfectness,  being 
"  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin," 
and  gradually  developing  into  that  God-like  completeness 
of  character  which  crowned  him  in  the  last  years  of  his 
life  upon  earth.  Thus  he  became  "  the  way,  and  the 
truth,  and  the  life  "  for  our  guidance.  In  his  progress 
from  innocence  to  holiness,  from  imperfection  to  perfec- 
tion, the  true  course  of  salvation  is  plainly  marked  out  for 
us.  To  be  truly  saved,  we  must  follow  him,  and  to  be 
fully  saved,  we  must  become  perfect  as  he  is.  When  he 
gave  gifts  unto  men,  and  established  the  Church  with  its 
various  offices,  it  was  that  we  might  "  all  come,  in  the 
linity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of 
God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature 
of  the  fulness  of  Christ"  (Eph.  iv.  13).  Notliing  less 
than  that  is  a  full  salvation,  and  until  that  is  attained,  the 
most  faithful  disciple  falls  short  of  his  calling,  and  has 
need  to   press  onward  towards  the  mark,  that  he  may 


SALVATION.  99 


apprehend  that  for  which   also   he   is   apprehended   of 
Christ  Jesus. 

If,  instead  of  looking  beyond  the  grave,  and  imagining 
an  awful  judgment  day  when  some  will  be  cast  away 
to  suffer  everlasting  torment,  mankind  would  fix  their 
thoughts  on  Jesus  and  compare  themselves  with  his  per- 
fection, they  would  see  very  clearly  how  great  a  salvation 
they  are  really  in  need  of.  Tried  even  by  his  unaided 
conscience,  every  person  is  self-condemned ;  but  tried 
by  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  best  of  men  are  found  so 
faulty  that  when  they  look  into  the  depths  of  their  souls, 
they  feel  like  smiting  their  breasts,  as  the  publican  did, 
and  praying,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner  !  "  For 
as  a  drop  of  water  which  seems  perfectly  clear  to  the 
unassisted  eye  is  seen  to  be  full  of  wriggling  creatures 
when  tested  by  the  microscope,  so  many  of  our  thoughts 
and  ways,  which  seem  to  be  quite  right  when  tried  by 
common  human  standards,  appear  full  of  faultiness  when 
tested  by  the  life  of  Jesus.  None  may  abide  the  day  of 
his  coming ;  none  may  stand  when  he  appeareth  :  for 
there  is  none  perfect,  —  no,  not  one.  But,  even  as  our 
Father  in  heaven  is  perfect,  so  we  must  be  perfect,  before 
we  can  say  that  we  need  no  salvation. 

II.  Such  being  the  true  nature  of  the  salvation  which 
we  need,  its  attainment  evidently  does  not  depend  upon 
the  place  which  we  may  occupy,  or  upon  any  external 


lOO         THE  LATEST  WORD    OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

conditions  whatever.  It  is  a  matter  of  character,  not  of 
locality,  —  of  inward  being  and  spiritual  experience,  not 
of  outward  circumstances.  To  transport  an  imperfect 
and  sinful  man  to  a  place  called  heaven  would  not  be  to 
save  him,  though  the  place  might  be  all  that  the  poets 
have  pictured  it,  and  though  he  might  be  permitted  to 
stay  there  for  ever.  He  would  still  need  salvation  as 
much  as  before.  The  realm  of  salvation  is  that  of  which 
the  Master  said,  "  Neither  shall  they  say,  Lo  here  !  or 
lo  there  !  for,  behold,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within 
you"  (Luke  xvii.  21). 

And  as  salvation  cannot  be  obtained  by  any  change  of 
locality,  neither  can  it  be  obtained  by  any  commercial 
arrangement  or  system  of  transfer,  such  as  the  scheme 
of  vicarious  atonement  proposes.  To  be  truly  saved,  a 
person  must  possess  not  imputed  righteousness,  but  per- 
sonal righteousness ;  he  himself  must  be  holy,  and  holi- 
ness is  a  thing  which  cannot  be  transferred.  As  well 
may  a  man  be  saved  from  sickness  by  having  the  health 
of  his  physician  imputed  to  him  as  from  his  imperfec- 
tion and  his  sins  by  having  the  righteousness  of  Jesus 
imputed  to  him.  It  is  an  impossibility.  Such  salvation 
would  be  fictitious,  a  delusion  or  a  pretence,  having  no 
practical  value. 

In  order  to  be  truly  saved,  each  person  must  work  out 
his  own  salvation  within  his  own  soul,  putting  off  the  old 


SALVATION.  lOI 


man  with  all  his  sins  and  imperfections,  and  putting  on 
a  new  man,  created  after  God's  likeness  in  righteousness 
and  true  Pioliness.  It  cannot  be  accomplished  in  a 
single  hour,  as,  for  example,  on  a  dying  bed ;  it  is  a  life- 
long process,  calling  for  constant  consecration,  daily  strug- 
gle, hourly  prayer  and  sacrifice.  It  may  be  begun  at 
any  time,  but  it  cannot  be  finished  on  this  side  of  the 
grave. 

A  preliminary  step  in  obtaining  salvation  is  to  get  God's 
forgiveness  for  sins  that  are  past.  Every  sin  which  a 
person  commits  is  a  barrier  between  his  soul  and  God  : 
it  makes  him  a  subject  of  God's  displeasure,  and  prevents 
him  from  having  that  oneness  with  God,  that  freedom 
of  communion  with  Him,  which  is  the  primary  joy  of  a 
true  state  of  salvation.  To  obtain  that  freedom  of  com- 
munion and  consequent  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  must 
not  only  cease  to  sin,  but  he  must  secure  the  removal 
of  the  barrier  which  already  exists  on  account  of  the  sins 
which  he  has  already  committed ;  and  that  is  some- 
thing which  he  alone  cannot  accomplish.  A  sin,  once 
committed,  cannot  be  undone.  The  person  who  com- 
mitted it  can  never  revoke  it,  and  it  must  stand  as  a 
barrier  between  him  and  his  God,  alienating  him  from 
the  favor  of  God,  till  God  Himself,  against  whom  the  sin 
has  been  committed,  sees  fit  to  remit  it,  to  put  it  a\vay, 
or,  in  other  words,  to  forgive  it;  for  that  is  what   for- 


I02         THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

giveness   means. ^     To   forgive  a   sin  is  like   forgiving  a 
debt ;  and  as  a  creditor,  in  his  kindness  towards  an  in- 
solvent debtor,  may  blot  out  the  account  which  he  holds 
against  him,  making  it  as  though  it  had  not  been,  so  far 
as  their  personal  relations  are  concerned,  so  God,  upon 
our  fulfilment  of  a  certain  condition,  will  forgive  all  the 
sins   which   we    have    committed   against   Him,   blotting 
them,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  book  of  His  memory,  put- 
ting them  away  from  between  Him  and  us,  suffering  them 
no  longer  to  be  a  cause  of  condemnation  to  us,  but  tak- 
ing us   as  fully  into   His  favor  as  if  we  had  not  sinned 
against  Him.     Of  course.   He  cannot  blot  out  the  fact 
that  the  sins  have  been  committed,  nor  will  He  absolutely 
blot  them  out  of  His  memory ;  but  in  so  far  as  they  are  a 
barrier   between   us  and   Him,   He   will   make   them   as 
though  they  had  not  been.     He  will  remember  them  but 
He  ^vill  not  remember  them  "  against  us  "  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  8)  ; 
they  shall  not  be  mentioned  unto  us   (Ezek.  xxxiii.   i6)  ; 
He  will  cherish  no  displeasure  towards  us  on  account  of 
them  (Rom.  viii.   i)  ;  they  shall  be  to  us  as  if  they  were 
cast  into  the  depths  of  the  sea  (Micah  vii.   19). 

1  The  Greek  word  which  is  translated  "forgiveness"  in  our  English 
version  of  the  Bible  is  d(|)ecris  (aphesis),  which  literally  means  a  sending 
away  or  a  putting  away;  and  the  primary  meaning  of  the  word  "for- 
give "  is  \.o  give  away  or  to  resign^  from  which  comes  its  secondary  mean- 
ing to  give  lip.  When  predicated  of  sin,  it  signifies  the  removal  of  the 
barrier  which  the  sin  has  constituted  between  him  by  whom  it  was  com- 
mitted and  Him  against  whom  it  was  committed. 


SALVATION.  103 


The  only  thing  which  we  have  to  do  in  order  to  obtain 
such  forgiveness  of  our  sins  is  simply  to  repent  of  them. 
Repentance,  however,  is  indispensable.  There  is  no  for- 
giveness for  the  sins  which  we  continue  to  cherish. 
Christ  was  not  sent  to  declare  forgiveness  of  the  sins 
which  we  persist  in,  but  only  "  to  declare  His  righteous- 
ness for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past "  (Rom.  iii. 
25).  To  ask  God  to  put  away  our  sins  from  before  His 
face,  to  count  them  as  nothing,  and  to  be  well  pleased 
with  us  while  we  wilfully  continue  in  them,  would  be 
to  insult  His  purity,  and  do  despite  to  His  loving-kind- 
ness. But  whenever  we  sincerely  repent  of  our  sins, 
God  freely  forgives  them.  He  puts  them  away  from 
between  Him  and  us.  He  does  not  suffer  them  to  hin- 
der our  communion  with  Him.  He  is  no  longer  dis- 
pleased with  us  because  of  them,  but  takes  us  fully  into 
His  favor.  He  might  do  otherwise,  were  He  otherwise 
disposed.  If  He  were  vengeful  in  His  disposition,  He 
might  treasure  up  anger  against  us  on  account  of  the  sins 
which  we  have  committed  against  Him,  and  refuse  to 
take  us  into  favor  notwithstanding  our  repentance.  He 
might  treat  us  as  we  are  apt  to  treat  each  other,  as  the 
unforgiving  steward  treated  his  debtor,  taking  him  by 
the  throat,  and  casting  him  into  prison,  because  he  could 
not  pay  the  debt.  This,  indeed,  is  the  way  in  which, 
according  to  the  theology  of  the  churches  which  mo- 


I04    THE  LATEST   WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

nopolize  the  title  "  Evangelical/'  He  surely  would  have 
treated  us,  had  not  Jesus  Christ  interfered  to  protect  us. 
We  are  taught  by  the  creeds  of  these  churches  that  man- 
kind, by  their  sins,  had  accumulated  an  infinite  debt  to 
their  Maker,  a  debt  which  they  could  never  pay,  and 
that  He,  in  His  wrath,  was  determined  to  cast  them  into 
hell,  there  to  suffer  endless  torment,  —  a  fate  which  would 
surely  have  happened  to  all  men,  had  not  Jesus  Christ, 
by  his  death  on  the  cross,  paid  off  the  debt  for  as  many 
of  them  as  may  unite  themselves  to  him  in  the  life  that 
now  is,  and  a  fate  which  will  still  be  the  portion  of 
those  who  do  not  thus  take  refuge  from  it.^  According 
to  this  doctrine,  God  is  both  a  Shylock  and  a  Caiaphas 
in  His  character,  relentlessly  demanding  His  pound  of 
flesh,  and  as  willing  to  take  it  from  the  breast  of  the  in- 
nocent as  from  that  of  the  guilty.     The  Bible,  however, 

1  As  an  illustration  of  this  doctrine  the  following,  from  Mr.  Spurgeon, 
may  here  be  quoted :  "  We  read  in  the  papers  lately  how  a  man  was  saved 
from  being  shot.  He  had  been  condemned  in  a  Spanish  court,  but,  being 
an  American  citizen  and  also  of  English  birth,  the  consuls  of  the  two 
countries  interposed,  and  declared  that  the  Spanish  authorities  had  no 
power  to  put  him  to  death ;  and  what  did  they  do  to  secure  his  life  ? 
They  wrapped  him  up  in  their  flags ;  they  covered  him  with  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  and  the  Union  Jack,  and  defied  the  executioners.  There 
stood  the  man  and  before  him  the  soldiery  ;  and,  though  a  shot  might  have 
ended  his  life,  yet  he  was  as  invulnerable  as  though  in  a  coat  of  triple 
steel.  Even  so  Jesus  Christ  has  taken  my  poor  guilty  soul  ever  since 
I  believed  in  him,  and  has  wrapped  around  me  the  blood-red  flag  of  his 
atoning  sacrifice ;  and  before  God  can  destroy  me,  or  any  other  soul  that 
is  wrapped  in  the  atonement,  He  must  insult  His  own  son,  and  dishonor 
his  sacrifice,  and  that  He  will  never  do,  blessed  be  His  name." 


SALVATION. 


105 


gives  no  support  to  such  a  doctrine.  Its  teaching  uni- 
formly is  that  God,  of  His  o^\^l  free  gi-ace  and  pleasure, 
immediately  forgives  all  sins  upon  the  simple  condition 
of  the  sinner's  repentance.  He  asks  no  further  satisfac- 
tion. This  is  the  teaching  of  both  Testaments.  When 
God  made  His  covenant  with  Solomon  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  temple.  He  said,  "  If  my  people,  which  are 
called  by  my  name,  shall  humble  themselves,  and  pray, 
and  seek  my  face  and  turn  from  their  wicked  ways,  then 
^\■ill  I  hear  from  heaven,  and  wdll  forgive  their  sin  "  (2 
Chron.  vii.  14).  When  John  the  Baptist  came  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  Jesus,  he  preached  "the  baptism  of 
repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins  "  (Mark  i.  4)  ;  and 
when  Jesus,  after  his  resurrection,  instructed  his  disci- 
ples what  to  preach  in  his  name,  it  was  in  the  same  short 
and  simple  formula,  to  which,  however,  he  had  given 
such  new  power  and  meaning,  —  the  message  of  "  repent- 
ance and  remission  of  sins  "  (Luke  xxiv.  47). 

As  to  repentance,  let  it  be  distinguished  from  that 
which  sometimes  takes  the  name.  True  repentance  is 
not  mere  sorrow  for  the  sins  which  we  have  committed : 
it  is  not  a  mere  wish  that  we  had  kept  ourselves  pure ; 
nor  is  it  remorse  or  despair.  A  person  may  be  sorry 
for  his  sins  for  selfish  reasons,  simply  on  account  of  the 
pain  which  they  cause  him.  He  may  be  sorry  for  them 
for   conscientious   reasons,   and  still   lack  the   necessary 


Io6         THE  LATEST   WORD   OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

will  to  break  loose  from  them.  Or,  he  may  be  sorry  for 
them  with  such  a  feeling  of  self-reproach  and  detestation 
as  to  try  to  break  loose  from  them  by  putting  an  end  to 
his  own  existence ;  but  such  sorrow  is  not  true  repent- 
ance. True  repentance  springs  from  a  conscience  which 
is  quickened  by  love,  and  proves  itself  by  works  of  love. 
Its  motive  is  unselfish,  and  its  result  is  a  sincere  en- 
deavor to  do  the  Heavenly  Father's  will.  He  who  truly 
repents  of  his  sins  views  them  not  merely  as  acts  of  folly, 
involving  painful  consequences ;  nor  merely  as  offences 
against  the  law  of  right  and  duty,  involving  a  sense  of 
personal  guiltiness ;  but  chiefly  as  offences  against  God's 
love,  involving  ingratitude  towards  Him  and  unfilial  aliena- 
tion from  Him.  His  repentance  is  not  directed  towards 
himself,  nor  towards  an  abstract  law  of  justice,  nor  tow- 
ards any  unknowable  "  power  not  ourselves  which  makes 
for  righteousness : "  it  is  directed  towards  a  personal 
Being,  against  whose  love  he  has  offended ;  it  is  "  repent- 
ance towards  God"  (Acts  xx.  21),  and  involves  not 
only  a  feeling  of  shame  and  of  sorrow  on  account  of  the 
sin,  but  also  a  desire  to  make  reparation,  so  far  as  pos- 
sible, by  a  future  course  of  loving  conduct.  True  re- 
pentance leads  the  sinner  to  seek  the  face  of  God,  saying, 
"  Father,  I  have  sinned  in  Thy  sight,"  and  "  Lord,  what 
wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do."  It  is  not  such  a  state  of 
mind  and  soul  as  that  which  drove  Judas  to  go  forth  and 


SALVATION.  107 


hang  himself,  but  such  as  that  which  led  Peter,  in  answer 
to  Christ's  look  of  love,  to  go  out  and  weep  bitterly,  and 
afterwards  to  devote  his  life  to  the  upbuilding  of  his 
Master's  kingdom. 

We  cannot  truly  repent  towards  God  unless  we  love 
Him,  and  unless  we  do  repent  towards  Him,  He  will 
not  and  cannot  forgive  us  our  sins ;  but  when  we  do 
repent  towards  Him,  humbly  confessing  our  ungrateful 
transgressions,  and  returning,  in  a  spirit  of  filial  love,  to 
the  path  of  duty  and  devotion,  "He  is  faithful  and  just 
to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  un- 
righteousness" (i  John  i.  9).  When  we  have  repented 
and  received  forgiveness,  we  are  already  saved  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  and  have  taken  the  first  and  principal  step 
towards  a  final  and  complete  salvation.  We  are  saved 
from  some  sin  and  from  alienation  from  God ;  and,  in 
order  to  be  saved  from  all  sin  and  imperfection,  we  have 
only  to  continue  in  the  path  of  obedience  to  God's  holy 
laws,  using  the  various  means  of  progress  which  He,  in 
His  infinite  goodness,  provides  for  us,  and  looking  stead- 
ily unto  Jesus,  as  a  runner  looks  steadily  unto  his  goal. 

These  truths  are  set  forth  with  incomparable  force  and 
beauty  in  the  immortal  parable  of  the  prodigal  son.  The 
prodigal  was  a  sinner,  and  a  type  of  all  sinners,  lost  in 
the  mazes  of  transgression  and  iniquity.  He  needed 
salvation,  not  from  the   demands  of  justice  in  another 


Io8         THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

world,  not  from  a  future  state  of  endless  torment,  but 
from  the  state  which  he  was  then  in ;  and  how  did 
he  get  it?  Simply  by  repentance  and  by  works  that 
were  meet  for  repentance.  He  came  to  himself,  was 
sincerely  sorry  for  the  sins  which  he  had  committed 
against  his  father's  loving-kindness,  and,  with  a  humble, 
contrite,  and  affectionate  spirit,  returned  to  his  father, 
confessed  his  sins,  and  asked  —  or  would  have  asked  if 
his  father  had  not  anticipated  him  —  for  the  privilege 
of  a  servant's  place.  In  answer  to  his  penitence,  he 
immediately  received  forgiveness.  His  father  cherished 
no  spite  against  him,  no  bitterness,  no  wrath,  no  desire 
for  revenge,  but  took  him  at  once  to  his  arms  of  love, 
and  gave  him  an  honored  place  in  the  household.  He 
was  saved  from  his  lost  and  dead  condition,  as  every 
sinner  may  be  saved  if  he  will  likewise  repent  and  seek 
his  Heavenly  Father's  face.  Repentance  will  always 
be  followed  by  forgiveness,  and  repentance  and  forgive- 
ness will  be  followed  by  salvation ;  or,  rather,  the  three 
processes  will  be  simultaneous.  There  is  no  interval 
between  them.  In  the  very  act  of  repentance,  we  obtain 
forgiveness  and  salvation. 

Let  it  be  re-emphasized,  however,  that  such  salvation 
is  not  complete.  The  prodigal  son,  when  restored  to 
his  father's  house  and  favor,  though  saved  from  his  prodi- 
gality and  from  his  state  of  sinful  alienation,  was  sorely 


SALVATION.  109 


in  need  of  still  further  salvation.  For  the  natural  ef- 
fects of  his  prodigality  must  have  clung  to  him  long  after 
his  return  to  sobriety,  and  have  hindered  him  from  en- 
joying the  estate  of  perfection.  Repentance  and  for- 
giveness restored  him  to  his  father's  house,  but  they 
could  not  restore  the  money  which  he  had  wasted  in 
riotous  Hving,  nor  restore  at  once  his  shattered  health, 
nor  repair  the  injury  which  he  had  done  to  his  spir- 
itual nature  by  perverting  its  powers  and  stunting  its 
growth.  He  was  not  the  same  man  that  he  would  have 
been  had  he  not  wasted  his  substance  in  the  service 
of  sin.  After  living  on  husks  till  he  was  reduced  to  a 
skeleton,  he  needed  something  more  than  repentance 
and  forgiveness  to  make  him  a  sound  and  perfect  man. 
Nothing  but  a  long  course  of  patient  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  right  living  could  complete  his  salvation.  And 
so  it  is  with  all  of  us.  By  repentance  and  forgiveness 
we  enter  the  Kingdom ;  but,  having  entered,  we  must  go 
on  and  on  in  the  living  way,  working  out  more  and  more 
of  our  promised  salvation  till  at  last  we  are  perfect  as 
our  Captain  is  perfect.  We  may  be  partially  saved  in 
the  Hfe  that  now  is,  but  only  in  the  life  which  is  to  come 
can  we  attain  the  full  measure  of  the  stature  of  Christ. 
How  long  it  will  take,  we  do  not  know.  It  is  enough 
that  we  know  the  eternal  conditions. 

If  it  be  objected  that  no  mention  has  been  made  of 
salvation  by  faith,  the  answer  is,  that  the  necessity  of 


no        THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

faith  has  been  taken  for  granted  in  all  that  has  been  thus 
far  said,  and  so  too  with  the  agency  of  Christ  in  the 
matter.  When  we  say  that  each  person  must  work  out 
his  own  salvation,  and  that  forgiveness  will  be  granted 
to  repentance  alone,  we  by  no  means  make  void  the 
necessity  of  faith  or  of  the  mediatorial  work  of  Jesus. 
On  the  contrary,  we  establish  that  necessity ;  for  faith 
in  God  as  revealed  in  Christ  is  requisite  to  true  repent- 
ance. We  cannot  go  to  our  Heavenly  Father  in  a  spirit 
of  true  penitence  unless  we  "  believe  that  He  is,  and  that 
He  is  a  re  warder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him," 
(Heb.  xi.  i6)  ;  and  we  cannot  believe  that  He  is  our 
Heavenly  Father  unless  we  believe  in  Christ  His  Son, 
through  whom  alone  His  paternal  character  has  been 
clearly  revealed  to  us  (Matt.  xi.  27).  Faith  is  the  back- 
ground of  repentance ;  but  as  a  background  without  a 
picture  is  useless,  so  faith  is  useless  unless  it  leads  to 
repentance  and  to  works  that  are  meet  for  repentance. 
Faith  has  saving  efficacy  only  when  it  "works  by  love" 
(Gal.  V.  6).  In  order  to  be  fully  saved,  we  must  "add 
to  our  faith  virtue,  and  to  virtue  knowledge,  and  to 
knowledge  temperance,  and  to  temperance  patience,  and 
to  patience  godliness,  and  to  godliness  brotherly-kind- 
ness,  and   to    brotherly-kindness    charity "    (2    Peter  i. 

15-17)- 

If  again   it  be   objected   that  nothing  has   been    said 

about  salvation  by  grace,  the  answer  is  that  it  also  has 


SALVATION.  Ill 


been  implied.  God's  grace  is  the  primal  and  universal 
force  which  lies  behind  and  within  the  whole  process 
of  salvation,  —  behind  our  faith,  our  repentance,  the  for- 
giveness of  our  sins,  our  growth  in  knowledge,  our  works 
of  love.  Without  it,  we  could  do  nothing,  and  would 
be  nothing.  But  this  does  not  militate  against  the  fact 
that  each  person  must  work  out  his  own  salvation.  On 
the  contrary,  we  are  told  to  work  out  our  own  salvation 
for  the  very  reason  that  God  works  in  us  to  accomplish 
His  pleasure  (Phil.  ii.  12,  13).  He  will  save  us  in  no 
other  way.  He  will  simply  help  us  to  help  ourselves, 
which,  with  God  as  with  man,  is  the  best  kind  of  charity. 
He  will  no  more  save  us  without  our  own  effort  than  He 
will  give  us  a  har\^est  ^vithout  our  tilling  of  the  soil. 
He  is  indeed  the  God  of  harvests,  and  without  His  in- 
fluence none  would  grow ;  but  in  order  to  obtain  a  har- 
vest the  husbandman  must  plant  and  cultivate.  And  so 
in  regard  to  the  work  of  salvation  :  we  are  "  God's  hus- 
bandry," and  He  is  our  Saviour,  first  and  last.  By  His 
grace  we  are  saved ;  but  only  as  we  utilize  it,  only  as  we 
obey  its  unchanging  conditions.  We  must  work  with 
God,  in  order  that  God  may  work  with  us.  As  to  His 
part  of  the  process,  there  is  no  room  for  uncertainty. 
His  grace  is  unfailing.  Where  sin  abounds.  His  infi- 
nite love  much  more  abounds ;  and  whenever  we  choose 
to  avail  ourselves  of  it,  we  shall  find  it  sufficient  for  our 
needs.      He    yearns    over    us  ^vith    an    infinite    longing 


112    THE   LATEST   WORD    OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

for  our  salvation,  and  will  not  be  satisfied  till  the  whole 
human  family  is  perfected  and  glorified.  He  has  made 
us  for  salvation  ;  and,  unless  we  all  are  saved  at  last,  His 
work  will  be  a  failure,  and  His  heart  will  be  for  ever  sad. 
So,  although  His  power  to  save  us  is  contingent  upon 
our  voluntary  obedience  to  the  conditions  of  salvation, 
yet,  in  view  of  all  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  we  cannot 
reasonably  doubt  that  His  purpose  concerning  us  will 
at  last  be  fulfilled.  Such  are  the  resources  of  his 
fatherly  love  that  he  will  finally  draw  all  men  unto  Him. 
Jesus  shall  "  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satis- 
fied "  (Isaiah  liii.  ii).  He  "shall  save  his  people  from 
their  sins ;  "  and  his  people  are  all  men  from  the  fact 
that  he  was  human-born.  Through  the  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  which  will  be  shed  abroad  in  their  hearts,  all 
men  will  believe  and  repent  and  obey.  Then  will  the 
creation  no  longer  groan  and  travail  in  pain  together, 
but  the  tabernacle  of  God  will  be  with  men,  and  He 
will  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  His  people,  and 
God  Himself  shall  be  with  them  and  be  their  God ;  and 
there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow  nor  cry- 
ing, nor  any  more  pain ;  for  the  former  things  shall 
have  passed  away  (Rev.  xxi.  3,4).  All  things  will  be 
made  new,  and  the  whole  creation  will  be  delivered  from 
sin  and  death  and  every  form  of  imperfection  into  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 


PUNISHMENT. 


113 


PUNISHMENT. 

BY     ASA     SAXE,    D.  D. 

*"  I  ^O  those  who  press  their  inquiries  to  any  considerable 
extent  into  the  subject,  it  is  evident  that  punish- 
ment is  a  great  fact  in  the  moral  administration  of  the 
world.  It  seems  to  inhere  in  the  very  idea  of  a  moral 
system.  Let  it  be  granted  that  God  is  a  moral  being,  and 
that  man,  whom  he  has  undertaken  to  govern,  is  a  moral 
being  also,  and  it  will  follow  that  moral  law  must  grow  as 
a  necessity  out  of  the  relations  of  governor  and  governed. 
Hence,  penalty,  whose  sequence  is  punishment,  must 
form  an  essential  part  of  any  valid  body  of  morals. 

Penalty,  the  enforcement  of  which  is  punishment,  is 
necessary  to  give  validity  to  any  law.  In  fact,  an  enact- 
ment without  a  penalty  is  not  a  law.  It  lacks  one  of  the 
cardinal  elements  of  law.  It  sometimes  occurs  that 
human  legislators  neglect  to  attach  a  penalty  to  an  enact- 
ment, when  of  course  it  transpires  that,  notwithstanding 
the  gravity  of  the  subject  to  which  it  relates,  practically 
it  is  a  nullity.  Even  in  the  realm  of  physics,  a  law  without 
a  penalty  would  be  void.     That  is  to  say,  a  law  would  be 

8 


114        ^^^^^  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

in  fact  no  law  at  all,  which,  whether  obeyed  or  disobeyed, 
enforced  or  uninforced,  leaves  the  result  precisely  the  same. 
A  law,  whether  physical,  organic,  or  moral,  is  a  principle 
or  a  demand  which  issues  in  certain  definite  results. 
When  the  law  is  set  at  defiance,  not  only  are  the  legiti- 
mate results  not  realized,  but  damage  and  disaster  accrue 
in  proportion  to  the  importance  and  sanctity  of  the  law 
infracted.  This  principle  is  founded  in  the  nature  of 
things,  and  is  therefore  a  fundamental  in  morals.  There 
could  be  no  such  thing  as  morals,  were  there  no  such  factor 
as  punishment,  and  did  obedience  and  disobedience  lead 
to  the  same  results,  and  ripen  into  the  same  fruit. 

Punishment,  then,  must  have  a  place  in  any  complete 
theological  system.  For  a  theological  system  is  an  attempt 
to  define  the  nature  of  God,  and  his  relations  to  humanity, 
thus  encompassing  the  whole  domain  of  morals ;  and  it 
would  be  obviously  deficient  without  that  which  is  essen- 
tial to  give  vitality  to  all  law.  It  should  therefore  have  a 
very  prominent  place. 

Punishment  may  be  defined  to  be  the  infliction  of 
the  penalty  attached  to  disobedience.  But  we  should 
be  careful  to  discriminate  between  it  and  hatred  and 
vengeance.  To  many,  suffering  inflicted,  and  hatred  on 
the  part  of  him  by  whom  it  is  inflicted,  are  synonymous. 
Especially  has  it  been  conceived  by  those  who  have  but 
a  limited  grasp  of  the   subject,  that  punishment  inflicted 


P  UNISHMENT.  1 1 5 


upon  a  human  soul  by  the  Divine  Being  is  indicative  of  his 
hatred  for  that  soul ;  and  the  figurative  language  of  the 
Bible,  wherein  God  is  described  as  taking  vengeance,  has 
been  the  favorite  form  by  which  to  set  it  forth,  in  forget- 
fulness  of  that  fitter  and  completer  Scriptural  statement, 
"  Whom  the  Lord  loz>efh  he  chasteneth."  We  fall  into  the 
gravest  of  all  possible  errors  when  we  confound  severity 
with  unkindness.  It  is  the  purpose  for  which  severity  is 
visited  which  must  determine  whether  it  is  kind  or  unkind. 
If  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  benefiting  the  one  on  whom  it  is 
inflicted,  instead  of  its  being  an  unkindness,  the  withhold- 
ing of  it  would  be  a  most  conspicuous  manifestation  of 
that  temper.  Hatred  and  vengeance,  unquestionably, 
have  severe  methods  of  expressing  themselves ;  and,  when 
backed  by  competent  power,  it  is  truly  an  awful  thing  to 
fall  under  their  visitations.  In  human  history,  these  pas- 
sions have  played  a  prominent  part ;  and,  when  they  have 
come  in  conflict  in  great  crises,  the  concussion  has  been 
something  tremendous,  with  the  echoes  reverberating 
through  distant  generations. 

But,  terrible  as  are  the  inflictions  of  vengeance,  they 
pale  often  before  the  supreme  severity  of  love.  There  is 
nothing  so  relentless  and  terrific  to  the  wilful  doer  of 
evil  as  the  methods  it  may  adopt  for  the  accomplishment 
of  its  ends.  Punishment  in  the  divine  economy,  then,  is 
not  the  manifestation  of  hatred,  but  the  sign  and  instru- 
ment of  love. 


Il6         THE  LATEST   WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

When  we  approach  the  methods  of  divine  punishment, 
we  open  a  vast  theme,  the  full  unfolding  of  which  would 
require  volumes.  We  can  only  touch  upon  it  here.  In 
general  terms,  it  may  be  said  that,  by  a  law  impressed 
upon  human  nature,  the  consequences  of  sin  are  made  its 
punishment.  Moral  philosophers  solve  the  problem  by 
an  application  of  the  inseparable  relations  of  cause  and 
effect.  God  does  not  resort  to  factious  means,  he  does  not 
depend  upon  the  rod  of  outward  chastisement,  nor  has  he 
any  need  to  travel  outside  of  the  beaten  path  of  established 
law  to  bring  the  pressure  of  punishment  upon  a  sinning 
soul ;  for  he  has  prepared  more  awful  scourges  within  the 
individual  consciousness  :  the  wounds,  the  damage,  the 
shame  which  sin  impresses,  the  natural  and  irreversible 
consequences  which  flow  from  it,  are  sufficient.  But  it  is 
necessary  that  we  make  some  discrimination  in  regard  to 
these  consequences  as  they  appear  on  the  surface  of 
things,  or  we  shall  fall  into  error.  It  will  not  do  to  say 
that  all  the  consequences  of  sin  are  to  be  ranked  as  its 
punishment,  although  in  a  remote  sense  they  are  such, 
and  will  Be  made  the  instruments  of  its  infliction.  It 
would  hardly  be  proper,  for  example,  to  call  the  physical 
consequences  of  sin  a  part  of  its  punishment.  Certain 
sins  lead  to  very  grave  physical  results,  to  bodily  disease, 
imbecility,  insanity.  But  these  are  not  necessarily  con- 
nected with  sin  at  all.     Intemperance  and  impurity  may 


P  UNISHMENT.  1 1  7 


sap  the  foundations  of  health  and  drain  the  brain  of  its 
juices,  ending  in  dehrium  and  death ;  and  so  may  these 
terrible  conditions  be  superinduced  while  the  soul  is  guilt- 
less of  any  wrong  or  guile.  The  very  diseases  which  these 
sins  bring  may  come  upon  one  wholly  innocent.  Wicked 
excesses  may  shatter  the  nerves  and  destroy  the  mind,  and 
so  may  an  accidental  injury  to  the  spine.  A  murderous 
blow  may  destroy  the  life  of  a  man,  and  so  may  a  stroke 
of  lightning,  or  any  unforeseen  and  unavoidable  casualty. 
In  the  one  case  there  is  no  sin,  while  in  the  other  there  is  the 
darkest  form  of  it.  The  physical  consequences,  however, 
are  the  same.  It  cannot  be  possible  that  a  form  of  suffering 
which  is  the  result  of  accident,  and  is  inflicted  upon  the 
innocent,  can  be  reckoned  as  forming  an  essential  part  of 
the  punishment  of  the  guilty.  Physical  disease  and  pain 
are  the  direct  result  of  the  violation  of  some  physical  or 
organic  law,  and  they  are  precisely  the  same  whether 
moral  guilt  or  accident  or  any  other  cause  has  wrought 
them. 

A  man  in  a  moment  of  passion  strikes  a  blow  which 
causes  the  death  of  his  own  son.  It  might  be  said  the 
loss  of  his  son,  which  to  any  parent  would  be  a  supreme 
bereavement,  is  in  part  his  punishment.  But,  supposing  the 
son  is  killed  by  accident,  he  loses  him  all  the  same  ;  and,  so 
far  as  the  loss  is  concerned,  he  suffers  the  same  in  one  case 
as  the  other.     The  mere  fact  that  he  has  lost  the  com- 


Il8         THE  LATEST    WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

panionship  of  his  child  cannot  enter  directly  into  the  pun- 
ishment for  his  sin.  In  short,  punishment  for  sin  must  be 
something  entirely  distinct  from  any  thing  which  the  inno- 
cent experience.  It  cannot  therefore  consist  of  any  form 
of  temporal  calamity  or  bodily  distress  ;  for  these  in  count- 
less variety  and  in  every  conceivable  form  come  upon  the 
innocent  as  well  as  the  guilty.  Punishment  for  sin  is  an 
experience  wholly  within  the  soul.  It  is  something  purely 
moral  and  spiritual.  It  is  not  simply  mental  distress,  for 
this  may  come  upon  the  innocent ;  but  it  is  a  peculiar  kind 
of  mental  distress.  It  is  not  simply  regret  for  the  wrong 
done  because  it  has  resulted  in  evil,  but  it  is  remorse  for 
the  wrong  because  it  is  wrong. 

Now  sin  may  lead  to  other  forms  of  suffering.  And  so 
may  innocence.  But,  let  it  be  reiterated,  innocence  and 
transgression  are  never  visited  with  the  same  stripes. 
There  is  a  lash  prepared  for  the  guilty  which  never  can 
touch  any  but  the  guilty,  —  viz.,  the  lash  of  remorse. 
Nevertheless,  the  external  consequences  of  wrong-doing 
may  be  made  the  instruments  of  intensifying  remorse. 
When  conscience  unsheathes  its  flaming  sword,  its 
terribleness  will  be  magnified  by  a  consciousness  of  the 
harm  to  ourselves  and  others  which  our  wrongs  have 
wrought.  We  learn  to  recognize  sin  by  the  harm  it  does. 
That  which  neither  directly  nor  remotely  does  any  harm 
cannot  be  sinful.     When  we  awake  to  a  consciousness  of 


P  UNISHMENT.  119 


our  sins,  we  must  do  so  in  connection  with  a  realization 
and  survey  of  their  baleful  consequences  ;  and  the  sting  of 
remorse  is  embittered  by  them,  no  doubt.  And  thus  they 
are  made  the  instruments  of  torture  to  the  stricken  spirit ; 
nevertheless,  the  torture,  the  punishment,  is  remorse. 

The  object  of  punishment  is  twofold.  Its  intention  is 
to  deter  from  sin  and  to  recover  from  sin.  To  the  end 
that  the  first  purpose  may  be  served,  the  penalty  for  trans- 
gression, from  the  beginning,  has  been  clearly  enunciated. 
"  In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die," 
was  the  divine  announcement  before  the  first  sin  had  been 
committed ;  and  it  was  the  voice  of  warning  and  for  the 
purpose  of  restraint.  The  publication  and  unfolding  of 
penalty  is  always  with  reference  to  this,  albeit  its  infliction 
has  reference  chiefly  to  the  recovery  of  the  sinner.  The 
penalty  is  uncovered  and  made  conspicuous,  that  the  soul 
may  have  timely  warning  of  the  danger,  as  destructive 
reefs  are  buoyed  and  channels  marked  out  for  the  safety 
of  navigators.  It  is  true  this  is  a  direct  appeal  to  fear, 
which  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  baser  elements  of  human 
nature,  and  therefore  objected  to  by  some,  who  hold  that 
it  would  be  unworthy  God  to  address  any  but  the  highest 
motives  to  men.  But,  whether  base  or  exalted,  we  do  find 
the  motive  of  fear  occupying  a  prominent  place  among 
the  incentives  which  are  constantly  determining  human 
conduct  and  by  which  human  character  is  being  shaped. 


I20        THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UXIVERSALISM. 

We  are  to  presume  that  it  is  not  there  by  accident,  but 
that  God  wisely  put  it  there,  and  therefore  its  use  is 
entirely  legitimate.  Doubtless  every  string  of  this  won- 
derful nature  of  ours  may  be  properly  touched,  and,  if 
properly  touched,  will  contribute  to  the  general  harmony. 
The  faculties  of  the  soul  are  the  constituents  of  a  vast 
republic ;  and  every  one  is  entitled  to  a  voice  and  to  its 
legitimate  influence.  It  will  not  do,  therefore,  to  conclude 
that,  because  a  motive  is  not  the  highest,  an  appeal  to  it 
is  either  improper  or  debasing.  Prudence,  caution,  fear, 
which  are  different  names  for  a  common  impulse,  as  vigi- 
lant sentinels  to  give  warning  of  the  approach  of  danger, 
are  neither  to  be  ignored  nor  despised,  even  in  the  admin- 
istration of  religious  influence. 

It  is  proper  that  men  should  be  deterred  from  sin  by 
an  apprehension  of  its  fearful  consequences,  —  far  better 
that  they  should  be  thus  restrained  than  that  they  should 
plunge  into  its  fiery  vortex  to  receive  and  inflict  damage. 
It  is  better  for  the  man  thus  restrained,  and  far  better  for 
peaceable  and  upright  people  who  are  protected  by  his 
restraint.  It  is  better  that  a  man  of  wicked  and  desperate 
purpose  should  be  chained,  than  that  he  be  allowed  to 
depredate  upon  the  property  and  lives  of  his  fellow-beings, 
although  the  restraint  of  principle  would  be  far  better  than 
a  material  fetter.  But,  where  the  higher  motive  is  not  avail- 
able, the  lower  is  legitimate  and  entirely  salutary.    It  is  there- 


PUNISHMENT.  121 


fore  of  very  great  importance  that  the  penalty  for  sin  should 
be  made  serious,  even  terrific,  that  it  should  be  clearly  un- 
folded and  rigidly  inflicted  purely  for  purposes  of  intimida- 
tion and  restraint  upon  people  viciously  inclined.  This  is 
clearly  a  legitimate  use  to  which  to  put  this  potent  instru- 
ment of  punishment.  With  the  present  state  of  human 
development,  society  could  not  hold  together  without  the 
conservative  bands  of  this  wholesome  fear. 

But  a  still  higher  office  of  punishment  is  its  remedial 
power.  From  a  philanthropic  stand-point,  this  so  far 
overtops  the  other  in  importance  that  many  have  recog- 
nized it  as  the  only  intent  of  its  ordainment.  Undoubt- 
edly, the  two  purposes  to  be  served  so  far  harmonize  that 
what  is  requisite  to  accomplish  the  one  is  fully  adequate 
for  the  other.  The  unrest,  the  shame,  the  sorrow,  which 
the  disease  of  sin  requires  as  a  remedy,  are  ample  in 
severity  and  duration  to  serve  the  purposes  of  restraint  in 
the  most  extreme  cases.  Hence,  while  punishment  is 
designed  to  be  a  terror  to  evil  doers,  and  men  suffer  for 
sin  as  examples  and  warnings,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that 
no  suffering  comes  to  the  transgressor  as  the  penalty  of  his 
wrong  which  is  not  needed  as  medicine  to  quench  the  virus 
of  a  rebellious  spirit.  Not  a  throe  of  pain  is  experienced 
not  incident  to  the  cure  of  a  deep-rooted  disease.  Not  a 
stripe  is  laid  wantonly  or  vindictively.  The  tenderness  of 
God  would  not  permit  a  single  pang  which  had  not  a 


122         THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

kind  purpose  behind  it,  nor  one  not  absolutely  neces- 
sitated by  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  Any  suffering,  how- 
ever slight,  not  sanctified  by  such  purpose  and  necessity, 
would  be  incompatible  with  the  character  of  God  as 
Christianity  unfolds  it.  There  has  been  much  speculation 
as  to  whether  any  such  necessity  really  exists,  and  whether 
God  might  not  have  ordained  a  different  and  easier  process 
for  the  recovery  of  lost  souls.  It  is  not  an  easy  task  to 
determine  what  God  might  or  might  not  have  done,  and  a 
proper  modesty  perhaps  would  forbid  that  we  make  the 
attempt ;  yet  admitting  the  facts  of  human  nature  and 
experience,  admitting  the  moral  responsibihty  of  the  soul, 
and  that  in  the  exercise  of  that  responsibility  it  has  lapsed 
into  sin,  it  is  not  easy  to  perceive  how  it  can  be  brought 
out  of  that  condition,  without  practically  destroying  its 
moral  freedom  and  responsibility,  by  a  process  essen- 
tially different  from  the  one  which  has  been  chosen.  It 
certainly  is  not  easy  to  see  how  the  result  can  be  wrought 
without  the  suffering  of  punishment.  A  sinful  soul,  in  order 
to  have  the  impulse  of  reformation  quickened  in  it,  must 
be  made  in  some  way  to  feel  that  wickedness  is  not  the 
best  and  most  desirable  condition  to  be  in ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  must  be  made  to  feel  that  it  is  the  worst  and  most  un- 
satisfactory condition  possible.  In  order  to  produce  this 
feeling,  disquietude  and  suffering  must  come.  The  dis- 
quietude and  suffering  must  be  intimately  associated  in  the 


PUNISHMENT. 


123 


sinner's  mind  with  the  practices  and  tendencies  of  his  hfe. 
He  must  be  made  to  reahze  that  disquietude  and  dissatis- 
faction are  stinging  him  because  he  is  on  the  wrong  road 
and  headed  in  the  wrong  direction.  Nor  can  the  concep- 
tion of  virtue  be  had,  or  the  impulse  thereto,  until  there  is 
a  clear  reaHzation  of  the  sinfulness  of  sin,  and  the  regret, 
the  shame,  the  remorse  which  this  realization  engenders. 
Punishment,  then,  becomes,  if  not  the  cause,  most  certainly 
a  necessary  adjunct  and  promoter  of  human  reformation. 
In  all  its  phases,  its  touch  is  healing  and  health-inspiring. 
It  is  one  of  the  agencies  of  redemption.  It  is  an  ordeal 
through  which  debased  and  dead  souls  must  pass  ere  they 
can  rise  into  spiritual  life  and  be  rounded  into  holiness. 

But,  after  all,  punishment,  with  all  its  efficacy  as  a  re- 
demptive agent,  is  not  clothed  with  full  regenerative  power. 
It  has  been  very  properly  likened  to  medicine,  which 
is  often  bitter,  but  always  administered  for  the  purpose  of 
healing.  Medicine  alone,  however,  never  can  work  a  cure. 
At  most,  it  can  only  clear  away  obstructions  and  help  the 
vital  and  recuperative  powers  of  nature  to  assert  themselves 
and  do  their  work.  So  of  punishment.  Of  itself,  it  can 
only  clear  a  field  for  the  operation  of  other  and  mightier 
forces.  There  should  be  a  clear  distinction  made  between 
the  wtpulse  to  a  new  life  derived  firom  the  bitter  experience 
of  the  fruit  of  sin  and  the  power  by  which  such  change 
is  effected.     The  impulse  to  the  achievement  of  a  thing 


124         THE  LATEST  WORD  OF  UNIVERSALIS^. 
It 

does  not  imply  the  power  to  achieve  it.  Men  have  been 
impelled  to  undertake  many  things  which  they  have  found 
no  means  of  accomplishing.  They  have  been  impelled, 
by  a  hunger  for  knowledge,  to  learn  whether  the  planets 
are  inhabited,  and,  if  so,  by  what  sort  of  beings,  but  the 
impulse  has  not  been  able  to  produce  a  glass  of  sufficient 
power  to  unfold  the  mystery.  They  have  been  impelled, 
by  a  realization  of  the  great  uses  to  which  it  might  be  put, 
to  the  discovery  of  the  principle  of  perpetual  motion,  but 
with  no  result  whatever  but  disappointment.  The  impulse 
has  been  upon  theologians  from  time  immemorial  to  solve 
the  problems  of  divine  sovereignty  and  human  agency ; 
brains  have  sweat,  and  intellectual  swords  wielded  by  giants 
have  been  crossed,  without  even  an  approximation  to  suc- 
cess. A  still  stronger  impulse  was  upon  a  dying  world  to 
penetrate  the  secrets  of  the  hereafter  and  discover  immor- 
tality ;  but  notwithstanding  the  inexorable  necessity,  and 
the  yearning,  the  intensity  of  which  is  set  forth  by  the  strik- 
ing figure  of  travail,  no  man  ever  opened  that  mysterious 
iron  door  until  Jesus  furnished  the  key.  The  impulse  to 
achieve  is  one  thing,  and  the  power  to  achieve  is  clearly 
another  thing.  The  punishment  of  sin  when  it  culminates 
in  its  sharpest  crises  superinduces  supreme  dissatisfaction 
on  the  part  of  the  sinner  with  his  condition.  It  kindles 
a  longing  for  something  better,  —  for  moral  health,  refor- 
mation, holiness. 


P  UNISHMENT.  125 


But,  when  it  has  done  this,  it  has  fulfilled  its  office  and 
exhausted  its  powers.  The  situation  of  the  sinner  would 
not  be  bettered,  on  the  contrary  it  would  be  made  worse, 
were  he  left  with  no  further  ministration.  To  make  a  man 
dissatisfied  and  miserable  will  not  help  him  per  se.  Suffer- 
ing alone  never  gave  a  man  strength  to  resist  temptation, 
nor  spun  a  single  fibre  by  which  to  lift  him  out  of  degra- 
dation. For  all  the  aid  it  could  render,  he  might  wrestle 
for  ever  \vith  the  coils  which  are  crushing  him.  It  must 
be  supplemented  by  other  and  more  potent  instrumentali- 
ties, for  punishment  alone  does  not  and  cannot  save.  It 
simply  prepares  the  way  for  other  forces  to  operate,  makes 
the  soul  teachable  and  receptive,  bringing  it  into  an  atti- 
tude where  the  regenerative  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  can 
be  apphed.  As  the  initiative  of  the  work  of  the  soul's 
salvation,  its  importance  cannot  be  overestimated,  but  for 
the  consummation  of  that  sublime  undertaking  reliance 
must  be  had  upon  the  conscious  ministry  of  divine  love. 
Men  can  only  be  quickened  into  spiritual  life  and  realize 
their  aspiration  for  holiness  by  the  grace  of  God,  by  the 
direct  help  he  vouchsafes  those  who  seek  it.  To  a  soul 
surrounded  by  trouble  and  smelting  in  the  fires  of  re- 
morse, there  comes  the  voice  of  encouragement.  Upon 
the  dark  waves  of  misery  shimmers  the  sunlight  of  hope. 
A  father's  countenance  is  beaming,  and  a  father's  strong 
hand   is  stretched  forth.     He  who   clasps  that  hand  in 


126         THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

confiding  trust,  and  he  alone,  can  be  led  out  of  the 
shadow. 

But  what  will  be  the  duration  of  punishment  ?  Will  it 
be  limited  or  endless  ?  These  are  questions  which  to-day 
are  engaging  the  attention  and  pressing  upon  the  feelings 
of  the  world  as  they  never  have  before.  Among  the 
masses,  they  have  become  living  questions,  and  are  recog- 
nized as  involving  imminent  issues ;  and  it  is  noteworthy 
that  in  their  discussion  they  are  taken  outside  the  circle 
of  Scriptural  exegesis  into  the  wider  field  of  moral  prin- 
ciple and  the  everlasting  fitness  of  things.  This  subject  is 
being  examined  by  the  most  earnest,  reverent,  and  critical 
minds,  in  regard  to  its  relations  to  the  character  of  God  as 
Christianity  reveals  it,  and  to  the  intuitive  consciousness  of 
abstract  right  in  men  ;  and  there  seems  to  be  a  general  feel- 
ing that  the  old  doctrine  of  endless  punishment  must 
stand  or  fall  as  it  shall  be  found  to  be  in  harmony  or  con- 
flict with  these,  —  must  stand  if  it  is  found  to  be  in  har- 
mony, but  if  in  conflict  must  fall  hopelessly,  in  spite  of 
any  buttress,  whether  Scriptural  or  otherwise,  which  can  be 
brought  to  its  support.  It  is  quite  clear,  however,  that, 
when  brought  to  these  tests,  it  breaks  down  utterly. 

Punishment  can  comport  with  the  beneficent  character 
of  God  only  by  virtue  of  its  beneficent  purpose.  If  its 
purpose  is  not  beneficent,  then,  even  without  any  regard  to 
the  degree  of  its  severity,  it  either  impeaches  the  goodness 


P  UNISHMENT.  127 


of  the  Great  Being  who  ordained  it,  or  it  is  an  anomaly 
in  creation,  existing  without  the  permission  of  God  and  in 
spite  of  his  power.  Regarded  as  an  instrument  for  de- 
terring men  from  sin  and  one  of  the  agencies  for  the 
recovery  of  the  fallen,  it  readily  falls  into  harmony  with 
our  most  exalted  conceptions  of  divine  goodness,  wisdom, 
and  power.  But  endless  punishment  is  not  beneficent ; 
for  in  no  way  can  it  be  made  to  ser\^e  a  good  end.  For 
purposes  of  reformation,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case 
the  infliction  of  it  must  be  a  failure  ;  and,  according  to  the 
old  conception  of  the  finale  of  human  history,  there  will 
come  a  time  when  for  purposes  of  restraint  it  will  not  be 
needed.  Many  seem  to  think  that  limited  punishment  is 
the  same  in  nature  and  character  as  that  which  is  un- 
limited, and  that  the  considerations  which  will  harmonize 
the  former  with  divine  goodness  will  harmonize  the  latter. 
But  this  is  by  no  means  true.  Endless  punishment  is  not 
the  principle  of  restraint  and  cure,  which  is  so  clearly 
compatible  with  eternal  right,  simply  perpetuated  without 
limit  as  some  have  apprehended  it,  but  it  is  essentially  and 
radically  a  different  thing.  If  it  be  conceded  that  punish- 
ment is  a  divine  method  of  deterring  from  sin  and  saving 
the  lost,  that  it  was  ordained  for  that  purpose  and  that 
only,  then  endless  punishment  is  a  misnomer.  There 
might  be  endless  suffering,  but  it  could  only  be  character- 
ized as  endless  revenge,  and  not  punishment.     Let  it  be 


128         THE  LATEST   WORD   OF    UXIVERSALISM. 

emphasized,  according  to  any  wholesome  definition  of 
punishment,  any  at  all  in  harmony  with  Christian  principle, 
it  must  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case  be  limited  in 
duration,  and  endless  punishment  is  an  impossibihty.  It 
would  seem  to  be  a  serious  thing  to  charge  upon  God  the 
ordainment  of  an  instrumentality  which  of  necessity  must 
defeat  its  own  end,  which  must  ultimately  become  useless 
as  a  restraint,  and,  instead  of  being  efficient  as  a  reform- 
atory power,  inexorably  bars  every  avenue  to  reform  and 
salvation.  If  it  was  the  design  of  this  penalty  simply  to 
perpetuate  wickedness  and  increase  the  sum  of  human 
misery,  it  might  be  pronounced  a  pre-eminent  success, 
while  for  sheer  cruelty  and  cool  diabolism  it  could  have  no 
parallel  in  fact  or  imagination ;  but,  if  its  purpose  be 
reform  and  blessing,  it  must  be  characterized  as  a  failure, 
and  the  stupendous  folly  and  stupidity  of  its  enactment 
cannot  be  overstated. 

If  it  results  beneficently,  as  it  would  seem  all  the 
agencies  of  a  beneficent  God  of  infinite  power  must 
result,  it  cannot  be  othenvise  than  of  limited  duration  ;  for 
the  blessing  can  only  come  after  punishment  has  done  its 
complete  work  and  its  functions  have  ceased.  If  the 
functions  of  punishment  are  to  restrain  and  reform,  suc- 
cessful punishment  must  ultimate  in  restraining  and  re- 
forming all  men ;  that  is  to  say,  it  must  do  its  part  in  this 
work  and  then  cease  and  determine.     If  any  one  inquires 


P  UNISHMENT.  1 2  9 


whether  punishment  will  be  unending,  basing  our  conclu- 
sions on  these  considerations,  with  very  great  confidence 
and  emphasis  a  negative  reply  may  be  given.  But,  if  the 
question  is  as  to  the  precise  date  at  which  it  will  end,  the 
answer  must  be,  —  no  man  can  tell.  The  most  definite 
thing  which  can  be  affirmed  with  regard  to  it  is,  it  will  be 
when  it  has  wrought  its  work  and  accomplished  its  end. 
It  will  certainly  have  taken  place  when  Jesus,  having 
brought  all  sinners  to  bow  in  penitence  and  submission, 
having  subdued  all  things  to  himself,  shall  deliver  up  the 
kingdom,  and  "  God  shall  become  all  in  all."  It  is 
difficult,  ay,  impossible,  to  see  any  field  or  function  for 
punishment  beyond  that  jubilant  consummation. 

There  is  one  other  element  of  divine  punishment,  which, 
in  order  that  it  may  reach  the  maximum  of  its  restraining 
efficacy,  should  be  clearly  unfolded  and  vigorously  set 
forth,  —  viz.,  its  certainty.  This  great,  potent  instrumental- 
ity has  to  a  large  extent  been  shorn  of  its  influence  in  re- 
ligious teaching,  notwithstanding  the  emphasis  which  has 
been  thrown  upon  its  severity,  because  its  certainty  has 
been  reduced  to  the  minimum.  While  endless  punish- 
ment has  been  set  forth  as  the  most  fearful  thing  of  which 
it  is  possible  for  the  human  imagination  to  conceive,  while 


it  has  been  embodied  in  blood-curdling  figures  and  clothed 
in  awful  rhetoric,  even  as  an  excitant  of  human  fear,  to  a 
very  considerable  extent,  it  has  proved  a  failure  on  account 

9 


130        TIFF.   LATEST    WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

of  the  uncertainty  which  has  hung  about  it.  It  is  not 
often  that  any  man  has  apprehended  it  as  something  pre- 
pared for  himself,  while  the  few  who  have  done  so  have 
usually  become  insane.  It  has  never  been  preached  as 
the  penalty  for  sin  which  will  inevitably  be  enforced.  To 
do  so  would  be  to  absolutely  quench  the  hope  of  the 
world,  for  all  have  sinned.  If  unending  suffering  is  de- 
nounced upon  transgression,  then  the  element  of  uncer- 
tainty must  inhere  in  it,  unless  all  men  are  to  be  its  victims. 
Accordingly,  men  have  been  taught,  not  if  they  go  into  sin 
they  will  surely  suffer  its  penalty  which  is  endless,  but  that 
they  will  suffer  it  unless  they  repent  before  the  day  of 
probation  shall  close.  This  possibility  of  escape  substan- 
tially annuls  its  power  to  stimulate  restraining  fear.  With 
repentance  and  conversion,  —  a  metamorphosis  which  may 
be  instantaneously  experienced  and  thus  the  penalty  for 
sin  entirely  escaped,  —  the  fear  of  hell  will  not  be  likely  to 
weigh  very  heavily  upon  the  average  sinner,  nor  will  he  be 
very  reluctant  to  go  into  forms  of  transgression  which  he 
is  persuaded  may  possibly  have  no  unpleasant  conse- 
quences whatever  attached  to  them.  If  we  would  make 
punishment  truly  appalling,  we  must  make  men  feel  that  it 
is  something  that  is  sure  to  come  in  all  its  fulness  upon 
the  soul  that  sins. 

It  is  held  by  many  who  are  really  well-meaning    and 
somewhat  thoughtful  that  it  would  be  dangerous  to  the 


PUNISHMENT.  131 


morals  of  the  world  to  have  the  duration  of  punishment 
relaxed  or  made   any  thing  short  of  endless,  especially  if 
men  are   taught   that  it  will  issue  in  salvation.     But  in 
human  laws  it  has  been  found  that  the  severest  have  not 
been  the  most  restraining,  but  rather  those  most  likely  to 
be  executed.      It  was  found  that  the  death  penalty  for 
theft  was  not  as  efficacious  to  prevent  the  crime  as  some- 
thing milder,  which  could  be  uniformly  enforced.     So  it 
will  be  found  that  what  will  be  lost  to  the  power  of  divine 
punishment  to   deter  from   sin  by  the   limitation    of  its 
duration  will  be  more  than  made  up  by  its  certainty.     Im- 
press upon  the   human  soul  the  fact  that,   although  the 
consequence  of  sin  is  not  endless  suffering,  it  is  something 
fearful,  perhaps  beyond  what  any  man  has    conceived ; 
that,  fearful  as  it  is,  it  is  nevertheless  in  harmony  with  the 
divine  character  and  sanctioned  by  the  purest  love,  and 
such  as  it  is  will  be  infallibly  executed,  and  it  would  seem 
that  we   shall  get  all  the  leverage   from    human  fear  for 
awakening  and  redemption  that  is  either  wholesome  or 
needful.     In  fact,  we  get  the  greatest  possible.     It  is  not 
for  the  purpose  of  quenching  or  diminishing  fear  as  an 
element  of  rehgious  influence,  but  of  increasing  and  inten- 
sifying it,  that  our  theologies  should  be  reconstructed,  and 
punishment  be  set  forth  as  limited,  but  certain.    We  would 
have  it  changed  from  an  empty  threat,  which  from  its  very 
nature  and  because   of   its  fearfulness  cannot  surely  be 


I  "^  2 


THE  LATEST    WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 


fulfilled,   to  a  solemn  verity  which  can  by  no  possibility 
fail. 

We  are  persuaded  that,  while  no  religious  instrumen- 
tality has  ever  yet  unfolded  the  fulness  of  its  possible 
strength,  it  is  pre-eminently  true  that  fear  has  not ;  and 
when  divine  punishment  shall  be  truly  apprehended,  and 
when  it  shall  have  taken  its  proper  place  among  the 
Christian  forces,  it  will  develop  a  potency  undreamed  of 
by  any  man,  and  do  execution  in  the  ranks  of  the  enemy, 
which  shall  be  recognized  as  at  once  unprecedented  and 
tremendous.  To  exalt  punishment  to  this  place  and  give 
it  this  power  is  a  work  worthy  the  best  endeavors  of  the 
Christian  thinker  and  philanthropist. 


SCRIPTURE  EXEGESIS.  133 


THE   RATIONALE   OF   SCRIPTURE   EXEGESIS. 

BY    GEORGE    HILL. 

IN  common  with  all  Christians,  Universalists  appeal  to 
the  Scriptures  as  the  ground  of  their  faith  and  doc- 
trine.    If  Christ  and  the  Apostles  did  not  teach  the  final 
salvation  of  all  men,  and  did  we  not  find  that  doctrine 
clearly  set  forth  in  word  and  spirit,  in  their  discourses 
and  epistles,  we  should  have  no  valid  authority  as  religious 
teachers,  and  no  right  to  a  place  in  the  Christian  Church. 
It  is  true  that  there  are  intimations  of  this  grand  result, 
in  the  works  of  God,  his  kindly  providence  over  man,  the 
witness  of  his  goodness,  in  the  general  order  and  benef- 
icence of  nature,  as  likewise  in  the  gifts  and  ministrations 
of  his  spirit.     The  philosopher  and  scientist  find  no  evi- 
dence of  malignity  in  the  laws  and  operations  of  creation. 
They  find  pain  and  penalty,  but  they  come  through  the 
violation  of  wisely  ordered  law,  and  are  intended  to  en- 
force obedience.     These  are  physical  evils  incidental  to 
organic   structure,  but   they  serve  to   render  man  alert, 
sharp,  and  self-sustaining. 


134    THE  LATEST    WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

They  are  fugitive  and  transient,  and  the  more  they 
are  disclosed  and  understood,  the  more  convinced  we 
are,  that  the  evil  which  does  exist,  is  for  some  good  pur- 
pose, and  for  the  final  blessing  of  all  sentient  beings.  In 
the  words  of  Leigh  Hunt :  "  This  palpable  revelation  of 
God  called  the  universe,  contains  no  evidence  whatsoever 
of  the  thing  called  eternal  punishment."  This  is  the 
testimony  of  a  poet ;  the  profoundest  students  of  science, 
with  scarcely  an  exception,  express  the  same  opinion. 

But  notwithstanding  these  facts  and  inferences  from 
nature,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  our  faith  must  be  sought 
and  found  in  the  revelation  of  God's  will  and  law,  to  moral 
and  spiritual  beings.  In  the  scriptures  of  divine  truth 
he  has  declared  his  own  character,  and  his  purposes  con- 
cerning the  duty  and  destiny  of  man.  There  is  where  we 
must  look  for  authority  and  explicitness  of  statement. 
Divinely  inspired  scripture  is  given  as  our  ground  of  faith 
and  hope.  Properly  understood,  it  is  a  "  lamp  to  our  feet, 
and  a  light  to  our  understanding."  God  speaking  directly 
to  man,  we  have  a  right  to  expect  a  more  clear  and  ex- 
plicit statement  of  the  Divine  nature,  requirements,  and 
purposes,  than  can  be  found  in  nature.  Hence,  for  cer- 
tainty and  authority,  in  faith  and  duty,  we  go  to  the  Bible 
and  rest  our  cause  on  what  it  truly  teaches. 

But    Christians    of  all  denominations  make  the  same 
appeal,  with  similar  confidence,  drawing  thence  doctrines 


SCRIPTURE  EXEGESIS.  1 35 


variant  and  contradictory,  giving  the  appearance  to  one 
unskilled   in  the  proper   rules   of  interpretation,   of  the 
worthlessness  of  the  authority  of  common  appeal.     There 
are  radical  and  hostile  differences  in  the  vital  doctrines  of 
Christian  sects;  infidelity  thrives  on  them;  indifference 
and   immoraUty  take  advantage  of  them.     The  quarrels 
and  controversies  of  the  different  branches  of  the  Church 
are  its  greatest  hindrance  to  progress  in  its  work.     Learned 
men,  honest  and  sincere,  stand  up  and  in  the  name  of 
the  same  God,  and  on  the  authority  of  the  same  Book, 
proclaim  entirely  opposite  messages.     They  differ  in  the 
conception   of  his   character,  the  nature    and  office    of 
religion,    the    duty  and   destiny  of  mankind.     Thought- 
ful people  hardly  see  how  this  can  be,  when  all  have  the 
same  word  and  authority  as  the  basis  of  their  faith  and 
teaching. 

But  the  cause  of  the  discrepancy  is  not  in  the  letter 
of  scripture,  nor  in  the  dishonesty  of  the  preachers.  The 
word  of  God  is  not  contradictory,  nor  is  Christ  divided, 
that  one  says  "  I  am  of  Paul,  another,  I  am  of  Cephas, 
another,  I  of  ApoUos."  These  men  differed  in  their 
understanding  of  Christ,  and  the  correct  interpretation 
of  his  religion.  They  were  all  equally  honest,  but  none 
of  them,  with  the  exception  of  Paul,  saw  at  once  the  full 
measure  and  compass  of  Christ's  mission  to  our  world. 
They    drew    their    conclusions,    as    the    great    body   of 


136         THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALIS^. 


religious  teachers  continues  to  do,  from  an  imperfect  con- 
ception of  the  magnitude  of  the  grace  of  God  in  the  Gospel. 
Bound  by  old  prejudice,  and  standing  on  a  half-truth  foun- 
dation, their  interpretation  of  Christianity  fell  short  of  its 
own  purpose  and  of  the  needs  of  man.  Sects  have  origi- 
nated and  grown  from  a  similar  error.  Each  represents 
a  portion,  but  not  the  whole,  of  the  truth.  When  men 
become  large  enough  in  mind  and  spirit  to  survey,  and 
take  in  the  whole  of  Christian  doctrine,  religious  teachers 
will  approach  that  "  unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Son  of  God,"  spoken  of  by  the  apostle. 

This  suggests  that  the  value  of  the  Scriptures  to  us, 
their  unity  and  authority,  depends  on  the  principles  and 
rules  of  exegesis  which  we  follow.  About  many  scripture 
doctrines,  there  is  no  controversy.  All  Christians  believe 
in  God,  in  Christ,  as  the  Son  of  God  and  Saviour  of  men  ; 
they  all  believe  in  immortality,  in  repentance  and  the 
necessity  of  good  works.  These  things  are  so  plainly 
taught  that  the  "  wayfaring  man  though  a  fool  need  not 
err  therein."  But  there  are  other  things  which  require 
explanation,  and  some  portions  of  the  text  which  require 
interpretation.  The  Scriptures  do  not  dogmatize,  do  not 
teach  doctrines  in  a  systematic  way.  Hardly  any  funda- 
mental doctrine  of  scripture  is  laid  down  and  fully  eluci- 
dated, in  distinctive  texts.  If  it  were,  there  could  be 
no  manner  of  mistake  concerning  its  meaning.     But  God 


SCRIPTURE  EXEGESIS.  137 

in  his  word  deals  as  ^^dth  children,  giving  instruction 
through  the  medium  of  human  speech,  pictures  drawn  by 
imagination,  parables,  and  spiritual  visions.  Revelation 
is  subject  to  these  peculiarities. 

And  here  arises  the  opportunity  for  fanciful  views  ;  for 
mistake  and  misinterpretation.  It  requires  study  to  find 
out  the  word  of  God,  and  then  careful  judgment  to 
rightly  interpret  it. 

Most  of  the  doctrinal  differences  bet\veen  Universalists 
and  their  opposers,  arise  from  different  principles  of 
exegesis.  We  hold  to  the  integrity  of  the  Word  of  God 
as  finnly  as  they,  but  from  our  stand-point,  the  word  dis- 
closes a  different  message  and  significance  to  us.  We  are 
not  open  to  the  charge  of  infidelity  because  we  insist  upon 
a  broader  and  more  liberal  basis  of  interpretation  than 
that  adopted  by  the  Church  in  the  darker  and  more  super- 
stitious ages  of  the  world.  The  science  of  theology  is  pro- 
gressive. Knowledge  and  the  gro\\th  of  the  human  mind 
unfold  more  clearly  the  character  and  revelation  of  God. 

It  is  not  therefore  presumptuous  in  Universalists,  coming 
to  the  Scriptures  as  they  do,  after  centuries  of  doubt, 
dispute  and  unrest,  modestly  to  claim  that  they  discern 
the  cause  of  past  error,  and  think  they  are  able  to  bring  an 
improved  exegesis  of  divine  revelation.  We  cast  aside  what 
has  proved  itself  of  no  avail,  and  seek  the  truth,  through  those 
means  and  methods  given  by  the  author  of  truth  itself. 


13S        THE  LATEST  WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 


Uni\'ersalists  in  their  interpretation  of  Scripture  are 
go\-erned  by  the  following  general  rules,  viz.  — 

1.  God's  word  must  be  interpreted  as  consistent  with 
itself. 

2.  It  must  be  interpreted  as  consistent  with  his  own 
character. 

3.  It  must  be  interpreted  as  consistent  with  reason  and 
moral  intuition. 

I.  The  object  of  Divine  Revelation  is  to  "  acquaint  man 
with  God,"  teaching  him  the  way  of  life,  and  bringing 
him  to  holiness  and  happiness.  To  this  end,  God  has  re- 
vealed his  character  as  a  righteous  and  holy  Being.  The 
leading  thought  of  the  Bible  is  the  purity  and  righteous- 
ness of  its  Divine  Author.  The  unfolding  of  this  fact  is 
the  foundation  on  which  he  claims  to  be  God,  and  to 
demand  the  confidence  and  worship  of  mankind.  In 
the  very  earliest  ages  of  revelation,  while  men's  spiritual 
conceptions  were  so  dim  as  hardly  to  discern  God  at  all, 
not  daring  to  speak  his  name,  they  were  conscious  of  the 
presence  of  a  Power  above,  and  not  within  themselves, 
"which  makes  for  righteousness."  And  when  this  power 
disclosed  itself  his  message  was,  "  I  am  a  just  and  right- 
eous God,  and  I  require  man  to  be  righteous  and  just." 
The  law  of  human  righteousness  sprang  from  the  divine 
righteousness.  Man  is  required  to  be  pure  and  good, 
because  God  is  pure  and  holy.     His  pattern  and  example 


SCRIPTURE  EXEGESIS.  139 

are  from  above.  Almost  the  entire  purpose  of  the  spir- 
itual part  of  the  Old  Testament  is  to  so  reveal  the  righteous 
and  beneficent  character  of  God,  as  to  win  the  Hebrews 
to  himself  as  a  "  peculiar  people  zealous  of  good  works." 
He  was  their  righteous  Judge,  Lawgiver  and  Father.  He 
could  but  do  what  was  right. 

Conceding  this,  there  are  laany  passages  of  scripture 
which  speak  of  the  anger,  vengeance,  and  vacillation  of 
God,  of  his  commands  to  g(0  to  war,  to  slaughter  cap- 
tives, to  despoil  their  en£m-ies>  —  commands  in  perfect 
accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  times,  but  inconsistent  with 
the  character  of  a  righteous  and  holy  God. 

Learned  men  of  the  Church  have  found  warrant  in  the 
letter  of  scripture,  both  Old  Testament  and  New,  for 
doctrines  concerning  God's  dealings  with  men  both  in 
this  world  and  in  the  next,  which  render  him  heartlessly 
unfeeling  and  cruel.  Were  these  doctrines  actually  taught 
in  the  scriptures,  they  would  be  in  conflict  with  their  lead- 
ing thought,  viz.  that  God  is  a  righteous  and  holy  God. 
How  then  are  we  to  interpret  those  passages  ?  Shall  we 
bend  the  leading  thought  and  purpose  of  the  Bible  to  an 
inferior  and  less  worthy  thought?  Or  shall  the  lower 
yield  to  the  higher?  Manifestly  the  latter.  Let  God  be 
true,  though  all  his  servants  shall  be  found  false.  We 
would  not  reject  any  portion  of  the  Bible,  but  calling  to 
our  aid  criticism,  the  knowledge  of  local  custom,  modes 


I40    TUE  LATEST    WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

of  expression,  the  union  of  the  human  with  the  divine 
element  in  all  revelation,  we  shall  find  sufficient  data  to 
justify  us  in  maintaining  the  harmony  and  consistency  of 
the  word,  with  the  character  of  God,  and  with  itself.  It 
is  all  true,  but  not  all  on  the  same  spiritual  elevation. 
Comparing  spiritual  things  with  spiritual,  and  carnal  with 
carnal,  there  is  no  conflict  of  statement.  God  cannot 
contradict  himself.  That  only  is  his  word  exclusively, 
which  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  himself.  Our  standard 
of  exegesis  carries  us  higher  than  our  own  thoughts  and 
ways,  to  the  consistency  of  the  record  of  his  thoughts 
and  ways. 

2.  The  interpretation  of  scripture  must  be  consistent 
with  God's  character.  We  know  his  character  by  what  he 
says  of  himself  and  by  its  reflection  in  ourselves.  "  Our 
whole  nature  leads  us  to  ascribe  all  moral  perfection  to 
God  and  to  deny  all  imperfection  in  him.  And  this  will 
for  ever  be  a  practical  proof  of  his  moral  character,  to  such 
as  will  consider  what  a  practical  proof  is,  because  it  is  the 
voice  of  God  speaking  to  us,"  says  Butler.  He  is  the 
supreme  good,  the  perfect  One,  altogether  lovely.  "  He 
doeth  good,"  says  the  Psalmist.  He  does  not  rest  his 
character  wholly  on  his  assertion,  but  points  to  his  works, 
his  providence,  his  care  for  all.  "  He  is  gracious  and  full 
of  compassion  ;  he  is  holy  in  all  his  works."  Every  in- 
spired writer  bears  testimony  to  the  high  and  beneficent 


SCRIPTURE   EXEGESIS.  141 

character  of  God.  He  is  Love,  and  loves  all  his  children. 
These  propositions  are  generally,  nay,  we  may  say  univer- 
sally conceded.  If  then  the  Bible  is  his  word,  it  cannot 
teach  any  thing  which  is  inconsistent  with  the  above  con- 
cession. Every  divine  attribute,  purpose,  and  expression, 
must  harmonize  with  it.  To  accept  any  doctrine  purporting 
to  come  from  scripture  as  true,  which  characterized  him 
otherwise,  would  be  contradictory  and  therefore  false. 

Nor  can  there  be  any  antagonism  in  the  various  attri- 
butes which  compose  the  Divine  Nature.  No  claim  for 
justice  can  conflict  with  the  office  and  exercise  of  love. 
He  is  just,  because  he  is  good ;  "  merciful  because  he 
rendereth  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds."  It  would 
be  unjust  to  remit  the  penalty  of  sin,  or  to  forgive  those 
who  do  not  deserve,  and  would  not  profit  by  forgiveness. 
He  is  just  in  rewarding  the  righteous,  and  punishing  the 
guilty.  Retribution  is  as  much  the  requirement  of  love,  as 
of  justice.  The  perfection  of  the  Divine  character  is  the 
key  to  the  right  understanding  of  all  his  judicial  and 
punitive  dealings  with  mankind. 

Now,  if  there  are  any  passages  of  scripture  which  seem 
to  teach  that  God  is  vindictive,  punishing  to  gratify  his 
own  feelings,  or  to  sustain  the  majesty  of  his  own  law, 
rather  than  for  the  correction  and  benefit  of  man,  this 
apparent  meaning  is  not  the  true  meaning,  because  it 
conflicts  with  the  character  of  God,  and  the  purpose  of 


142         THE  LATEST  WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

his  moral  government.  Such  passages,  if  there  are  any, 
are  either  faulty  in  translation,  or  else  partake  too  largely 
of  the  mind  and  feeling  of  the  writer. 

The  latter  is  never  the  case,  however,  where  the  spiritual 
judgments  of  God  are  applied  to  men  ;  but  sometimes  in 
the  ministration  of  temporal  retribution,  the  feeling  and 
conduct  of  God  are  described  in  terms  of  passion  and 
harshness  comporting  more  nearly  with  the  character  of 
man,  than  with  that  of  the  serene  majesty  and  holy  feeling 
of  the  Divine  Father. 

But  it  may  be  objected  that  such  a  rule  of  exegesis 
determines  a  priori  what  scripture  ought  to  teach,  rather 
than  what  it  actually  does  teach.  We  are  to  determine 
what  Scripture  is  by  criticism,  and  what  it  teaches  by 
interpretation  and  comparison.  The  scholarship  of  the 
Church  at  the  present  time,  as  never  before,  is  directed  to 
the  purification  of  the  sacred  text,  and  a  correct  transla- 
tion of  the  same,  into  modern  tongues.  And  it  is  a  re- 
markable fact  that  this  critical  and  literary  ability  is  giving 
us  a  text  and  translation  in  perfect  accord  with  the 
righteous  and  merciful  character  of  God.  Words  and 
phrases  on  which  important  theological  doctrines  have 
been  built  up  and  sustained,  are  left  out,  or  so  modified 
in  meaning  as  not  to  impugn  the  Divine  goodness.  The 
meanings  which  men  have  worked  into  the  letter  of  scrip- 
ture, are  withdrawn,  and  the  meanings  of  God  and  Christ 


SCRIPTURE  EXEGESIS. 


143 


are  permitted  to  shine  with  unobstructed  clearness.  New 
and  broader  rules  of  exegesis  are  apphed,  and  the  crystal 
stream  of  truth  from  the  divine  fountain  is  clarifying  the 
verbal  channels  and  human  conceptions,  by  which  the 
truth  must  reach  the  mind  and  heart  of  man.  In  the  light 
of  unlimited  grace,  and  the  divine  perfection,  scholarly 
criticism  eliminates  from  the  Bible  the  words  "  damna- 
tion," "  hell,"  "  everlasting  punishment,"  "  sacrificial  atone- 
ment "  and  the  popular  meanings  they  have  borne,  leaving 
nothing  in  the  letter  that  can  mislead  the  reader,  or  reflect 
upon  the  character  and  government  of  the  Almighty. 

3.  The  Scriptures  must  be  interpreted  according  to  rea- 
son, and  the  moral  intuition  of  man.  These  are  funda- 
mental attributes  of  human  nature.  They  were  given  of 
God,  before  the  Bible  was  \\Titten,  and  revelation  to  reach 
and  affect  man,  must  be  in  harmony  with  his  nature.  He  has 
a  right  to  reject  any  message,  whatever  its  pretension,  which 
conflicts  with  right  reason  and  his  moral  sense.  Leigh 
Hunt,  in  his  autobiography,  expresses  a  healthy  sentiment, 
when  he  says,  "  If  an  angel  were  to  tell  me  to  beheve  in 
eternal  punishment,  I  would  not  do  it ;  for  it  would  better 
become  me  to  believe  the  angel  a  delusion,  than  God 
monstrous ;  and  we  make  him  monstrous  when  we  make 
him  the  author  of  eternal  punishment.  For  God's  sake 
let  us  have  piety  enough  to  believe  him  better."  And 
Bishop  Butler  says,  "  Reason  is  the  only  faculty  whereby 


144         THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

we  have  to  judge  of  any  thing,  even  of  revelation  itself." 
If  then  any  doctrine  taught  in  the  name  of  revelation  con- 
flicts with  reason  and  moral  intuition,  the  presumption  is 
that  it  is  no  part  of  the  revelation  of  God.  If  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity  are  a  proof  of  its  divine  authority,  as 
Butler  claims,  the  presence  of  the  doctrine  of  endless  pun- 
ishment in  Christianity,  would  prove  either  that  Christianity 
is  not  divine,  or  else  that  the  doctrine  is  not  found  in  the 
Gospel.  Reason  and  intuition  tell  us  that  the  doctrine  of 
endless  punishment  is  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  a 
just  and  good  God,  and  therefore  cannot  be  a  part  of  his 
word.i  Dr.  John  Young,  author  of  Creator  and  Creation,  a 
work  commended  for  its  profound  and  just  reasoning  by  the 
late  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,  says :  "  On  one  point  it  is  im- 
possible to  feel  the  least  hesitation ;  eternal  punishment 
in  the  sense  of  conscious  suffering,  even  in  a  single  in- 
stance, is  inconceivable  and  unendurable  by  any  sound 
and  sane  conscience."  And  then,  to  meet  the  theory  that 
the  sinful  soul  hereafter  may  be  doomed  to  a  state  of  all 
but  unconscious  stupor,  and  moral  death,  he  continues, 
"  With  great  reverence  I  venture  to  express  the  conviction, 
that  if  the  Great  Being  foreknew  that  even  this  eternal 
torpor,  but  much  more  that  eternal  misery,  conscious  suf- 
fering, would  be  the  doom  even  of  a  single  creature,  it  is 
incredible  that  He  should  have  given  existence  to  that 

1  Contemporary  Review,  April,  1878. 


SCRIPTURE  EXEGESIS.  145 

creature."  It  may  be  said  that  reason  is  carnal  and  the 
moral  sense  perverted,  and  that  therefore  they  are  not  a 
safe  guide  to  follow  in  the  interpretation  of  the  word  of 
Infinite  Holiness.  But  in  reply,  if  we  admit  the  utter  per- 
version of  reason  and  the  moral  sense  by  sin,  we  destroy 
the  utihty  of  any  revelation  from  God,  or  the  possibility 
of  any  spiritual  communication  with  him.  An  unmoral 
being  could  not  know  or  understand  God.  A  totally 
wicked  and  perverse  nature  would  be  in  the  same  condi- 
tion. Hence  we  contend  that  man  never  loses  the  use  of 
reason  and  moral  judgment.  And  besides  we  notice  that 
it  is  those  whose  reason  has  been  cultivated  to  the  highest 
degree  and  whose  moral  natures  have  been  regenerated  by 
piety,  that  are  the  most  sensitive  and  clear  in  their  con- 
demnation of  those  theological  dogmas  which  outrage  the 
higher  nature  of  man.  It  is  not  the  worst,  but  the  best 
men,  who  are  the  quickest  to  see  the  inconsistency  of  end- 
less torment  with  the  divine  character  and  human  reason. 
The  poet  Whittier  says  — 

"  Nothing  can  be  good  in  Him 

Which  evil  is  in  me. 
The  wrong  that  pains  my  soul  below, 
I  dare  not  throne  above ; 
I  know  not  of  His  hate  —  I  know 
His  goodness  and  His  love." 
10 


146        THE  LATEST   WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 


We  cannot  believe  that  God  says  or  does  any  thing  which 
our  reason  and  moral  intuition  tell  us  he  ought  not  to  do 
and  say. 

Nor  can  man  really  love  and  worship  a  being  whose 
character  and  laws  are  contrary  to  his  sense  of  right  and 
his  ideas  of  loveliness.  He  may,  by  force  of  education, 
beheve  in,  and  fear  such  a  being,  but  he  will  not  love  him. 
He  may  not  have  the  courage  to  say  with  John  Stuart  Mill, 
"  that  if  God  will  send  him  to  hell  for  not  loving  a  Being 
many  of  whose  traits  are  unlovely  and  abhorrent  to  his  soul, 
then  to  hell  he  will  go,"  nevertheless  this  expresses  the  feel- 
ing of  every  one  of  sound  moral  sense.  It  is  not  the  prov- 
ince of  reason  and  conscience  to  decide  what  ought  to  be, 
or  what  God  ought  to  say  and  do,  but  it  is  their  province  to 
examine  and  decide  as  to  the  true  and  the  untrue.  Man 
is  urged  to  come  and  "  reason  together  with  God  ;  "  "  and 
to  taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good."  How  could  he 
do  these,  unless  reason  and  moral  sense  are  supreme 
within  him  ?  God  claims  to  do  only  what  is  right  in  man's 
sense  of  right.  Hence  the  true  interpretation  of  scripture 
must  yield  a  result,  consistent  with  his  higher  nature. 

With  these  fundamental  principles  of  exegesis  firmly  fixed 
in  the  mind,  —  viz,  that  God's  word  must  be  consistent 
with  itself;  with  his  own  character;  and  with  moral  intui- 
tion, —  there  can  be  no  insuperable  difficulty  in  determining 
what  revelation  teaches.     We  have  the  key  to  the  meaning 


SCRIPTURE  EXEGESIS.  147 


of  the  judicial  and  punitive  portions  of  his  word,  and  are 
able  to  detect  every  blemish  of  theological  bias  and  liter- 
ary error  in  the  translation.  We  are  able  to  test  the  truth 
of  doctrines  taught  in  the  name  of  revelation.  We  can 
"  try  every  spirit,  whether  they  are  of  God."  Our  battery 
sweeps  the  whole  field.  We  no  longer  grope  our  way 
in  darkness  and  uncertainty,  ever  asking  "  what  is  truth," 
meeting  with  no  sure  and  satisfying  response,  but  we  have 
the  principles  of  certitude  within  our  grasp.  It  brings 
every  question  of  doctrine  before  the  high  court  of  rea- 
son and  conscience.  When  told  by  the  sacrificialist  that 
without  the  atoning  blood  of  Christ  to  rescue  men  from 
the  dreadful  doom  of  endless  woe,  there  could  be  no  cause 
of  joy  and  gratitude  on  the  part  of  the  saved,  in  the 
words  of  Martineau  we  reply,  —  "  If  to  rescue  men  from  a 
dreadful  fate  in  the  future  be  a  just  title  to  our  reverence 
and  love,  never  to  have  designed  that  fate,  claims  an  affec- 
tion yet  more  devoted ;  if  there  be  a  divine  mercy  in 
annihilating  an  awful  curse,  in  shedding  only  blessing 
there  is  surely  a  diviner  still."  A  correct  knowledge  of 
the  character  of  God  destroys  the  supposed  contingency 
on  which  an  unreasonable  doctrine  is  made  to  rest. 

It  has  long  been  the  habit,  we  may  say  the  misfortune 
of  orthodox  interpreters,  to  adopt  that  view  of  those  texts 
of  scripture  that  treat  of  retribution,  which  makes  God  the 
worst  being  in  the  universe.     He  brings  myriads  of  human 


14S         THE  LATEST    WORD  OF   UiYIVEESALIS.}/. 

beings  into  existence,  knowing  before  he  created  them  the 
absolute  certainty  of  their  doom  to  endless  loss  and  pain. 
He  was  under  no  compulsion  to  give  them  life.  They 
receive  no  compensation  in  this  brief  world  for  the  unend- 
ing woes  beyond.  If  they  co7i/d  avoid  their  fate,  He 
knew  they  would  not.  It  would  be  infinitely  better  never 
to  have  been  bom.  No  sophistry  of  argument  can  con- 
vince a  reasonable  being,  that  it  is  right  and  beneficent  to 
create  immortal  souls  under  such  circumstances.  The 
best  minds  among  them  confess  that  the  conduct  of  God 
is  dark  and  inexplicable.  Even  Calvin  said  it  was  "  hor- 
rible." It  repels  all  love  and  confidence.  And  yet 
Orthodoxy  denies  every  broad  and  generous  canon  of 
biblical  exegesis,  and  insists  upon  an  interpretation  so 
narrow  and  unjust  as  to  render  the  Bible  repulsive,  and 
to  crush  out  religion  itself,  did  it  not  originate  in  a  source 
too  high  and  divine  to  be  affected  by  the  creeds  and 
superstitions  pubhshed  in  its  name.  Christianity  cannot 
be  impaired ;  but  its  credibility  is  weakened  by  the  false 
doctrines  attributed  to  it.  These  have  repelled  thousands 
from  the  church,  and  reared  a  wall  of  partition  between 
liberal  scientific  thought  and  the  popular  demands  of  faith. 
Christians  must  adopt  a  higher  and  more  catholic  exegesis, 
if  they  would  avoid  divisions  and  win  the  loyalty  of  large- 
minded  men  who  are  able  to  trace  the  ways  and  goodness 
of  God  in  his  works.     It  is  complained  that  philosophers 


SCRIPTURE  EXEGESIS.  149 

and  scientists  are  infidels.  But  generally  it  will  be  found 
on  inquiry,  that  they  do  not  reject  the  religion  of  God  and 
Christ,  but  the  interpretation  of  that  religion,  maintained 
by  the  narrower  sects.  On  the  essentials  of  religion  there 
should  be  unity  of  faith,  then  the  full  force  of  revelation 
could  be  hurled  against  indifference  and  unbelief.  This 
is  a  matter  that  concerns  not  Universalists  alone,  but  all 
other  sects  as  much.  The  Bible  loses  in  authority  as  the 
various  doctrines  drawn  from  it  neutralize  and  destroy 
each  other.  It  is  a  house  divided  against  itself,  not  by 
any  intrinsic  division  of  its  ow^n,  but  by  the  unwise  and 
erroneous  interpretations  put  upon  it  by  its  friends.  The 
defenders  and  believers  in  revelation  owe  it  to  themselves, 
as  well  as  to  the  cause  they  represent,  to  throw  aside  tradi- 
tion and  prejudice,  and  to  come  together  and  adopt  a 
science  of  interpretation  that  shall  eliminate  error  and 
bring  forth  the  truth.  They  are  not  fit  for  the  defence  of 
the  Word,  if  they  cannot  see  the  meaning  and  purpose  of 
God  in  it. 

Universalists  by  no  means  claim  that  they  are  the  only 
ones  who  bring  conscience  and  reason  to  bear  upon  the 
interpretation  of  scripture.  They  are  not  the  only  ones 
who  are  anxious  to  have  the  truth  known.  There  are  good, 
sincere  men  in  other  sects,  who  believe  they  are  defending 
the  truth  of  God,  in  upholding  doctrines  which  our  reason 
and  moral  sense  tell  us  are  wrong,  and  contrary  to  his 


150         THE  LATEST   WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

character.  They  think  they  find  a  warrant  for  them  in 
the  letter  of  scripture.  All  we  have  to  complain  of  is, 
that  they  allow  the  force  of  early  education  and  sectarian 
fealty  to  blind  their  minds  to  the  new  and  brighter  light 
shed  upon  the  sacred  page  since  the  day  of  Calvin  and 
Edwards ;  and  to  the  urgent  duty  of  a  re-examination  of 
the  question  as  to  what  is  taught  in  the  Scriptures.  There 
is  an  appearance  of  blind  obstinacy,  not  only  in  defend- 
ing exploded  and  outgrown  dogmas,  but  in  seeking  new 
grounds  of  defence  for  what  the  honor  of  God,  and  the 
glory  of  his  church,  require  to  be  given  up.  It  would  be 
more  in  keeping  likewise  with  personal  integrity  when 
some  of  these  old  doctrines  are  abandoned ;  such  as 
"  infant  damnation,"  "  total  depravity,"  "  election  "  and 
"predestination,"  to  own  the  mistakes  of  the  past,  and 
thank  God  for  the  new  light  which  has  led  to  a  milder 
and  better  faith,  than  to  deny  the  past,  and  claim  the 
labors  of  others  as  their  own.  In  the  great  changes  of 
modem  theological  opinion  now  going  on,  many  of  them 
coming  completely  up  to  our  line  of  advance,  and  others 
very  nearly,  we  fail  to  discover  scarcely  a  hint  of  indebted- 
ness to  the  labors  and  courage  of  those  who  have  borne 
the  heat  and  burden  of  the  controversy  that  compelled 
this  theological  change  of  base  for  the  better.  How- 
ever, we  are  content,  only  that  truth  advances  and  men 
are  blessed.     It  is  sufficiently  gratifying  to  Universalists  to 


SCRIPTURE    EXEGESIS.  151 

see  good  and  learned  men  of  other  churches  adopting 
their  principles  of  exegesis,  and  coming  to  their  conclu- 
sions as  to  the  character  of  God,  the  nature  of  salvation, 
the  purpose  and  Kmit  of  retribution,  the  mission  of  Christ, 
and  the  relation  man  will  sustain  to  God  in  the  future. 
We  can  ask  for  no  more  cheering  signs  of  progress  in  this 
direction  than  we  are  meeting  with  of  late. 

But  our  duty  is  clear;  and  that  is  to  continue  in 
the  future  as  in  the  past,  to  defend  the  Bible  and  the 
Gospel  against  the  harm  and  reproach  brought  upon  them 
by  their  professed  friends.  There  can  be  no  effectual  oppo- 
sition urged  against  a  reasonable,  humane,  and  practical 
religion,  bringing  the  love  of  God  to  man,  and  causing 
the  love  of  man  to  flow  out  to  his  fellow-man.  In  teach- 
ing people  to,  ^^  thi7ik  7ioble  things  of  God,'''  we  are  bring- 
ing the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  making  man  more 
noble,  and  consequently  better  and  happier. 

A  correct  exegesis  of  the  Bible  Hfts  it  above  popular 
objections,  increases  faith  in  its  consolations  and  proffered 
helps.  It  reveals  God  as  the  loving,  ever-present,  sustain- 
ing Spirit,  seeking  to  save,  and  never  leaving,  nor  forsaking 
his  children.  He  is  no  longer  a  distant  monarch,  guard- 
ing his  throne  "  caring  more  for  his  law,  than  for  his  own 
Son,  or  the  happiness  of  a  universe  of  souls,"  ruling  his 
domain,  as  an  earthly  despot  rules  a  kingdom,  but  he  is  a 
loving,  compassionate  Friend,  imposing  his  law  of  right- 


152    THE  LATEST  WORD   OF'  UNIVERSALISM. 

eousness  and  duty,  not  for  his  own,  but  for  man's  good. 
His  religion  is  given  for  this  world,  to  save  and  bless  man 
now  and  here.  Right  views  of  God  and  his  word  lift 
every  cloud  of  darkness  and  dread  from  the  soul,  and 
crown  man's  existence  with  a  priceless  value,  giving  him 
the  glorious  life  that  now  is,  and  an  "  inheritance  incor- 
ruptible and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved 
in  heaven." 


THIS  LIFE  AND   THE  NEXT.  1 53 


THE    RELATION     OF    THIS     LIFE    TO 
THE     NEXT. 

BY  JOHN   COLEMAN   ADAMS. 

'THHE  belief  in  immortality  materially  modifies  the  view 
•^  we  take  of  the  relation  of  this  life  to  the  life  to 
come.  Most  of  our  convictions  about  duty  and  destiny 
show  new  relations  in  the  light  of  the  faith  that  the  soul 
lives  after  the  body  is  dead.  Ethics  takes  a  new  vantage 
ground.  Religion  presents  new  motives.  And  even  sci- 
ence finds  her  results  harmonized  and  crowned  with 
inspiring  hopes,  if  the  soul  is  conceived  to  be  an  imper- 
ishable force.  It  makes  great  difference  in  our  views  of 
this  life,  whether  we  believe  it  to  be  connected  with  the 
future  as  a  period  of  trial,  of  preparation,  or  of  spiritual 
infancy;  or  whether  we  believe  the  two  to  be  wholly 
unconnected,  save  as  different  states  of  one  substance. 
And  since  much  of  the  meaning  which  we  attach  to  the 
future  grows  out  of  our  conception  of  the  present,  we 
may  properly  begin  at  this  point  to  discuss  the  relation 
of  the  present  Hfe  to  the  next. 

Universalism   holds   the   present  life  to  be  the  initial 
state  of  a  moral  order,  whose  progressive  stages  are  to 


154         THE  LATEST   WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

be  endless.  The  doctrine  of  the  soul's  immortality  carries 
the  implication  of  a  thread  of  unity,  running  through  all 
life  and  experience,  and  linking  to  each  other  all  the 
stages  of  the  soul's  development.  The  life  we  lead  at 
any  point  in  our  history,  is  a  part  of  one  organic  whole. 
The  persistence  of  personal  identity  binds  the  events  of 
our  lives  in  a  mutual  dependence  upon  each  other,  and 
relation  to  itself;  and  immortality  perpetuates  this  rela- 
tion. The  conscious  spirit  holds  the  past  life  in  relations 
to  the  present.  It  will  be  the  bond  between  the  present 
and  the  future  life.  From  the  earliest  moment  of  separate 
existence,  there  is  an  indivisible  unity  in  the  experiences 
of  a  human  soul.  The  past  grows  into  the  present ;  the 
present  has  its  influence  on  the  future.  The  life,  at  any 
period  is  related  in  both  directions,  backward,  as  an 
effect,  and  forward  as  a  cause.  Every  act  in  the  soul's 
life  is  definitely  related  to  character,  and  modifies  the 
course  of  destiny.  The  idle  word  for  which  we  must 
give  account  in  the  judgment  (Matt.  xii.  t,^)  ;  the  least 
things,  in  which  we  are  commanded  to  be  faithful 
(Luke  xvi.  lo)  ;  as  well  as  the  offences  which  are  like 
millstones  about  the  neck  (Matt,  xviii.  6),  —  are  parts  of 
one  organic  whole.  The  life  of  the  soul  is  one  life,  here 
and  hereafter.  The  same  unity  which  runs  through  the 
life  of  the  individual  is  manifest  in  the  laws  under  which 
that  Hfe  develops.     Science  has  rendered  theism  a  great 


THIS  LIFE  AND   THE  NEXT.  155 


service  in  demonstrating  the  unity  of  nature.  It  has 
taught  us  the  oneness  of  the  universe,  and  the  inseparable 
connection  of  all  its  parts.  We  know,  in  regard  to  matter, 
that  the  laws  of  its  structure  and  changes  have  never 
altered.  They  are  the  same  to-day  as  when  light  first 
broke  upon  chaos.  They  are  one  in  Jupiter  and  Arcturus, 
and  the  formulae  which  we  work  out  upon  our  earthly 
blackboards  discover  for  us  a  new  planet  on  the  confines 
of  the  solar  system.  We  may  affirm  the  same  to  be  true 
of  the  moral  system  of  things.  There  is  one  moral  law 
for  all  worlds,  because  there  is  one  Divine  Nature,  one 
Supreme  Will.  The  principles  of  God's  reign  are  neither 
transient  nor  variable.  In  all  times  and  places,  his  law 
expresses  his  nature.  Since  that  cannot  change,  the 
fundamentals  of  the  moral  law  cannot  alter.  Moral  dis- 
tinctions are  therefore  unalterable.  And  so  is  the  soul's 
relation  to  this  law  (Ps.  xxxiii.  11;  Jas.  i.  17).  So  it 
must  be  true  that  the  moral  law  is  one  in  its  fundamentals, 
and  that  it  will  ever}^here  be  administered  upon  the 
same   principles. 

Since,  therefore,  the  life  of  the  soul  and  the  nature  of 
the  system  under  which  that  life  develops,  exhibit  a  con- 
stant unity,  we  affirm  that  the  present  life  is  the  first  step 
in  an  eternal  march.  It  is  the  soil  in  which  the  soul 
roots  itself  for  an  eternal  growth.  It  is  the  primary  grade 
in   an   eternal   spiritual    education.     The   grand   law   of 


156         THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALIS Jf. 

progress,  whose  workings  in  the  past  have  been  unfolded 
to  us  by  modem  science,  is  the  law  of  all  life,  spiritual  as 
well  as  physical ;  and  Universalism  holds  that  the  admis- 
sion of  this  law  as  the  universal  method  of  God,  in 
connection  with  the  belief  in  the  soul's  immortality, 
establishes,  by  implication,  the  fact  that  this  life  is  the 
prelude  to  a  nobler  condition  yet  to  come.  The  begin- 
nings of  the  soul  here  will  there  be  carried  on  to  greater 
things.  The  germination  of  the  spirit  here  will  be  suc- 
ceeded by  an  unfolding,  in  the  future,  into  more  abundant 
life.  That  is  the  tenor  of  the  New  Testament,  as  it  is  the 
inference  from  philosophy.  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles 
both  taught  this  truth.  We  are  not  to  look  upon  this  life 
as  final,  but  are  to  anticipate  a  more  satisfactory  condition 
hereafter  (Heb.  xiii.  14).  In  this  life  we  enjoy  only  the 
feeble  beginnings  of  that  insight  and  spiritual  capacity 
which  will  be  ours  when  we  see  face  to  face  ( i  Cor.  xiii. 
12).  The  present  is  a  period  of  preparation,  in  which 
the  soul  is  fitted  for  its  disembodied  existence  (John  xiv. 
2,  3).  It  is  the  imperfect,  the  chrysalis  condition,  which 
precedes  a  more  glorious  and  complete  existence.  This 
is  the  epoch  of  life  when  we  learn  the  tangible  and  mate- 
rial ;  but  that  is  an  epoch  when  we  are  to  know  the  un- 
trammelled powers  of  the  spirit  (Rom.  viii.  18).  This 
is  the  state  of  unharmonious  moral  relations,  discordant 
natures,  opposing  tendencies.     But  the  future  is  the  con- 


THIS  LIFE  AND   THE  NEXT.  157 

dition  of  settled  dispositions,  steadily  unfolding  powers, 
and  spirits  reconciled,  harmonious,  peaceful  (Rom.  viii. 
21 ;  Rev.  xxi.  4).  This  life,  indeed,  is  but  the  short 
camp  of  a  night,  the  bivouac  of  the  soul  on  its  march  to 
the  confines  of  the  immortal  country.  "For  here  we 
have  no  continuing  city,  but  we  seek  one  to  come." 

In  one  sense,  then,  we  may  say  that  t/ie  present  life  is 
a  p7'ohation.  It  is  the  gradual  change  from  state  to  state, 
and,  being  a  progressive  development,  involves  the  condi- 
tion of  trial  and  ascertained  fitness  as  a  preliminary  to 
advancement.  Life  is  a  perpetual  apprenticeship,  in 
which  to-day  helps  determine  what  to-morrow  shall  be, 
and  fidelity  is  the  measure  of  reward.  In  this  school  no 
man  is  promoted  until  he  has  fulfilled  all  requirements. 
He  takes  his  rank  from  what  he  is.  His  condition  and 
character  are  the  product  of  all  his  past  life.  Failure 
and  fault  subtract  so  much  from  the  sum-totals  of  char- 
acter. Holiness  raises  the  soul  to  the  higher  grades. 
We  represent  in  ourselves,  at  any  given  moment,  exactly 
the  value  of  the  experiences  we  have  passed  through, 
so  that  if  the  past  has  been  a  season  of  sinfulness  and  of 
short-coming,  the  present  will  be  one  of  narrowed  enjoy- 
ments and  reduced  capacities ;  if  it  has  been  profitably 
used,  our  souls  are  the  larger  and  the  further  along  in 
spiritual  growth.  Every  stage  of  life,  therefore,  is  pro- 
bational,  so  far  as  it  proves  our  fitness  for  spiritual  pro- 


158         THE  LATEST    WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 


motion,  or  exposes  our  deficiencies  and  our  inabilities. 
We  must  deserve,  or  we  do  not  receive.  We  reap  only 
what  we  sow,  and  every  moment  of  our  lives  is  the  proof 
of  what  our  past  has  been,  as  well  as  a  condition  which 
will  help  determine  the  future. 

The  unity  of  individual  life,  as  well  as  of  the  moral 
law  in  this  and  all  worlds,  warrants  the  belief  that  this 
link  binds  the  present  to  the  future  life.  We  are  in  train- 
ing here  for  activity  there.  Our  fitness  depends  on  our 
faithfulness.  If  we  have  learned  the  elements  of  grace 
and  holy  living  in  this  life,  we  are  fitted  for  advancement 
in  that  other.  If  we  have  neglected  our  opportunities 
here,  if  we  have  been  careless  or  rebellious  pupils,  we 
must  take  a  lower  place  there,  and  perfect  ourselves  in 
the  rudiments.  Until  we  do,  we  get  no  promotion ;  for 
it  is  one  of  the  rules  of  this  school  of  life,  that  no  man 
can  expect  to  have  elevated  experiences  until  his  soul  is 
fitted  for  them.  Here  and  hereafter,  we  shall  be  advanced 
in  knowledge  and  in  happiness  only  according  to  our 
qualifications.  And  we  must  believe  that  the  beginnings 
of  the  future  life  are  shaped  by  what  has  been  done  in 
this  life.  A  soul  takes  into  the  next  world  what  it  carries 
out  of  this.  Character  cannot  be  dropped  like  the  body. 
It  is  the  self  which  we  carry  with  us  ;  and  if  the  present 
life  has  dwarfed  that  self  by  neglect,  or  weakened  it  by 
abuse,  or  corrupted  it  by  sin,  then  dwarfed,  and  weakened, 


THIS  LIFE  AND    TEE  NEXT.  159 


and  corrupt,  it  must  enter  the  future  life.  So  far  as  this 
life,  then,  is  a  manifestation  of  fitness,  so  far  it  is  a 
probation.  So  far  as  every  stage  of  life  is  a  preparation 
for  succeeding  ones,  so  far  this  life  determines  the  plane 
on  which  we  shall  begin  the  next. 

But  we  are  not  to  consider  this  life  as  deterniining  the 
final  destiny  of  the  soul,  nor  regard  it  as  a  period  of  sus- 
pended judgment,  whose  purpose  is  merely  to  test  the 
qualities  of  the  spirit  before  it  is  judged  worthy  of  an 
endless  heaven  or  fit  for  an  endless  hell.     It  is  greatly 
exaggerating  the  meaning  and  importance  of  this  life  to 
conceive  that  its  short  opportunities  are  to  decide  the 
destiny   of  eternal   years.      It   were    a   singular   travesty 
upon  the  divine  justice,  to  hang  man's  everlasting  fate 
upon  the  blind  decision  of  his  infancy  and   ignorance. 
Yet  this  is  exactly  what  we  must  do,  if  the  moral  choice 
we  make  in  this  life  decides  finally  all  our  future.     This  is 
the  stage  of  life  in  which  we  are  least  aUve  to  the  enor- 
mity of  evil,  or  the   attractiveness  of  good.     This  is  a 
tentative  period,  in  which  we  grope  after  our  good,  ham- 
pered by  ignorance,  fear,  and  passion,  uncertain  of  many 
of  the  things  which  are  most  powerful  as  motives,  very 
poorly  prepared  to  make  a  final  decision  between  good 
and  evil.     In  this  life,  moreover,  we  have  but  just  begun 
to   feel   the   traction   of  divine   grace,   which   is   surely, 
steadily,  though  with  the  deliberateness  of  a  power  which 


l6o         THE  LATEST    WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

has  no  lack  of  time,  drawing  souls  to  a  higher  life.  Now, 
is  it  possible  to  believe  that  divine  love  would  hinge  the 
eternal  fate  of  a  moral  being  upon  the  impulsive  and 
unenlightened  decisions  of  a  will  and  judgment  only  in 
their  infancy?  Human  existence,  by  such  a  theory, 
would  be  the  unfairest  of  struggles.  For  if  souls  are  put 
here  to  decide  finally  their  future  fate,  they  ought  to  do 
so  with  every  possible  advantage.  When  the  stake  is 
so  awful,  no  man  ought  to  be  handicapped  in  the  race. 
But  we  are  by  no  means  evenly  started  in  this  life ;  and 
if  there  be  no  opportunity  for  improvement  or  change  of 
character  after  death,  then  the  doom  of  rejection  would 
fall  most  frequently  upon  the  morally  unfortunate.  For 
by  far  the  larger  number  of  those  who  become  confirmed 
sinners  in  this  life  are  those  who  inherit  evil  dispositions, 
or  whose  surroundings  are,  and  always  have  been,  evil. 
The  moral  accountability  of  man  is  qualified  in  a  thousand 
ways,  —  by  his  predispositions,  by  his  surroundings,  by 
his  ignorance,  by  his  involuntary  susceptibilities.  And 
often  those  who  do  the  worst  are  the  most  excusable. 
But  unless  we  all  start  alike,  and  are  accountable  without 
any  qualification  for  our  moral  status  at  the  close  of  this 
life,  it  were  a  poor  imitation  of  justice  to  make  our  char- 
acters then  fix  our  fate  finally.  If  this  life  is  a  probation, 
in  the  popular  sense,  then  the  heathen,  dying  in  sin,  on 
the  Pacific  Islands  or  in  North  Street  alleys  are  practi- 


THIS  LIFE  AND    THE  NEXT.  i6l 

cally  doomed  for  ever.  Those  who  confessedly  have  the 
poorest  chance  in  this  hfe  have  none  at  all  in  the  next. 
Those  whom  Providence  allows  to  come  into  this  world 
loaded  with  the  misdoings  of  past  generations,  that  same 
Providence  allows  to  be  doomed  by  their  involuntary 
tendencies  to  unending  misery  !  This  is  equivalent  to 
the  worst  form  of  fatahsm.  It  is  the  doctrine  of  repro- 
bation, in  its  most  offensive  guise.  It  puts  man  between 
the  millstones  of  inherited  tendency  and  corrupt  sur- 
roundings, and  ensures  the  moral  death  of  three  quarters 
of  our  race. 

While,  then,  we  by  no  means  admit  that  death  closes 
the  account  of  God  with  the  soul,  or  terminates  its  chances 
of  moral  recovery,  we  do  assert  that  conduct  in  this  life 
determines  the  moral  condition  in  which  we  shall  begin 
the  next.  Let  us  next  inquire  what  are  the  respective 
effects  of  righteousness  and  of  sin  in  this  life,  which 
decide  the  beginnings  of  life  hereafter,  and  how  the  con- 
ditions of  the  future  may  be  expected  to  modify  the 
character  formed  here. 

The  effect  of  holiness  upon  the  human  soul  is  to  in- 
crease its  capacities  and  heighten  its  joys.  Harmony 
with  God,  the  doing  of  his  will,  love  of  righteousness, 
are  uniformly  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament  as  "  life," 
"eternal  life,"  hfe  that  "abideth  for  ever  "  (John  xvii.  3  ; 

V.  24;   I  John  ii.  17).     The  effect  of  right  conduct,  con- 

II 


1 62         THE  LATEST   WORD   OF    UNIVERSALTSM. 

sidered  of  course  as  the  expression  of  a  good  heart,  is  to 
enlarge  the  powers  of  the  human  soul.  Under  natural 
laws  of  the  spirit,  exercise  in  godliness  increases  all  godly 
traits.  These  traits  become  character  in  us.  And  when 
we  leave  the  body  in  which  we  have  been  dweUing  while 
we  acquired  them,  they  will  go  with  us. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  effect  of  sin  upon  the  soul  is 
narrowing  and  corrupting.  By  contact  with  evil,  we 
reduce  the  moral  force  of  our  natures,  cut  off  the  sources 
of  pure  enjoyment,  and  diminish  our  capacities  for  spir- 
itual peace  and  pleasure.  Just  as  a  disease  affects  the 
body,  so  sin  affects  the  soul.  It  cripples  the  will.  It 
dwarfs  the  affections.  It  taints  the  thought.  A  man  is 
less  a  man  by  being  a  sinner.  His  life  is  worldly,  identi- 
fied with  the  outward,  bound  up  in  the  body.  His  whole 
nature,  so  to  speak,  is  thrown  out  of  gear.  The  equi- 
librium between  the  faculties  is  lost.  And  as  a  matter 
of  course,  there  is  no  peace  for  the  soul  which  is  thus 
deranged  by  sinfulness.  Inward  joy  comes  only  of  in- 
ward harmony.  It  can  never  exist  while  the  soul  is 
divided  against  itself,  rent  by  passion,  and  shaken  by  the 
strife  between  self-love  and  duty.  So  that  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  sin  is  misery.  An  evil  heart  is  narrow, 
demoralized,  and  wretched.  Like  the  results  of  righteous- 
ness, the  consequences  of  sin  are  inward  effects.  They 
are  organic  in  the  soul.     They  may  have  been  produced 


THIS  LIFE  AND   THE  NEXT.  163 

by  the  acts  of  the  body.  They  may  have  come  of  sug- 
gestions of  the  flesh.  But  they  have  become  spiritual  facts, 
and  even  if  we  suppose  their  cause  removed,  and  the  soul 
to  be  free  from  the  body,  these  effects  have  passed  out  of 
the  limits  of  the  physical  man.  The  sin  which  may  have 
begun  as  a  carnal  impulse,  has  jarred  the  whole  nature 
into  disorder,  and  ends  by  demoralizing  the  spirit. 

We  therefore  get  no  adequate  idea  of  sin  if  we  regard 
it  as  essentially  confined  to  the  body,  and  this  earthly 
life.  Sin  is  not  a  physical  infirmity,  like  blindness ;  nor 
a  morbid  development  of  the  appetites,  like  gluttony; 
nor  a  temporary  ascendency  of  the  flesh  over  a  resisting 
mil ;  nor  the  stupefaction  of  the  soul  by  the  lust  of  the 
body.  Sin  is,  essentially,  the  resistance  which  the  soul 
makes  to  the  divine  order.  And  however  suggested, 
under  whatever  temptation  committed,  by  whatever  out- 
ward circumstances  facilitated,  sin  is  in  the  last  analysis, 
an  inward  fact.  It  is  a  moral  derangement.  It  affects 
the  very  substance  of  the  soul.  It  is  not  a  mere  shadow 
cast  on  the  surface  of  the  spirit  by  passing  clouds  of 
passion.  It  is  a  darkening  of  the  waters  by  the  infusions 
of  evil.  It  is  not  merely  the  retardal  of  the  soul's  devel- 
opment, but  a  distortion  of  the  inward  nature,  a  diseased 
and  deforming  growth. 

We  are  now  at  a  point  at  which  we  may  properly  ask, 
in  what  way  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body,  in 


1 64         THE   LATEST  WORD    OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

the  experience  of  death,  may  be  expected  to  affect  its 
moral  status.  We  have  clearly  before  us  the  nature  of 
sin,  as  an  immoral  act  of  the  will,  which  touches  the  sub- 
stance of  character.  Is  it  not  a  natural  inference  that 
this  moral  derangement  may,  and  in  many  cases  does, 
outlast  the  connection  of  the  soul  with  the  body  ?  We 
spend  this  life  in  forming  character.  Our  sins  confessedly 
affect  this  character.  And  character,  moreover,  is  a  fact 
which  transcends  mere  physical  causes.  Upon  such  facts 
as  these  we  build  the  belief  that  the  life  of  this  earth 
determines  the  beginnings  of  the  life  on  which  we  enter 
at  death.  Whatever  the  soul  is,  at  the  close  of  this  state 
of  existence,  that  it  must  be,  by  all  analogy,  an-d  by  the 
inferences  from  the  present  life,  when  it  enters  the  future 
state.  If  the  will  be  perverse  and  the  affections  estranged 
from  God ;  if  the  soul  be  darkened  by  hatred  or  dis- 
turbed by  contending  lusts  ;  if  the  nature  be  scarred  with 
the  wounds  of  sin,  or  flushed  with  its  burning  fever ;  then 
these  terms  describe  its  condition  as  it  passes  the  bourne 
of  the  grave.  If  we  have  overcome  the  evil  of  this  world, 
and  are  pure  in  spirit,  fervent  in  holy  affections,  tender- 
hearted, forgiving,  and  loyal  to  the  truth,  we  enter  the 
next  life  upon  higher  levels,  and  come  into  more  imme- 
diate enjoyment  of  its  blessings.  But  every  soul  enters 
the  next  life  in  a  state  which  exactly  represents  its  faith- 
fulness or  its  unfaithfulness  in  this. 


THIS  LIFE  AND    THE  NEXT.  165 

It  seems  probable,  moreover,  that  the  same  methods 
of  discipline  and  retribution  will  continue  in  the  future  as 
are  employed  here  to  restrain  the  sinful,  and  overthrow 
the  defiant.  The  uniformity  of  God's  moral  government 
is  our  warrant  for  supposing  that  the  means  employed  in 
this  world  to  deter  from  sin,  or  to  break  do^vn  persistent 
evil  by  moral  catastrophe  continue  beyond  the  dead-Hne 
of  the  body.  He  who  is  under  the  bondage  of  sin  is 
equally  under  the  bondage  of  punishment  for  sin.  And 
if  we  enter  the  next  life  in  our  sins,  we  enter  it  also  in 
certain  danger  of  their  penalties.  If  the  resistance  of 
the  will  to  the  eternal  moral  law  alienates  the  heart  from 
God  up  to  and  beyond  the  gates  of  Death,  the  eternal 
laws  of  moral  compensation  will  inflict  suffering  as  long 
as  this  alienation  lasts.  Until  the  will  consents  to  the 
divine  order,  there  is  no  deliverance  from  the  thraldom 
of  retribution.  So  that  if  any  soul  goes  into  the  future 
unrepentant,  we  must  believe  that  the  progress  of  penalty 
and  discipline  goes  on,  at  the  same  time  that  grace  per- 
suades and  love  invites,  until  the  evil  heart  is  overcome. 

For  it  must  be  noticed  how  often  the  way  for  divine 
love  is  prepared  by  the  complete  overthrow  of  the  selfish 
soul,  the  wTeck  of  its  purposes,  and  the  do^vnfall  of  its 
strength.  Some  men  push  their  wickedness  to  such 
lengths  that  they  are  only  to  be  checked  by  utter  ruin. 
When  they  are  crushed,  they  are  for  the  first  time  ready 


1 66         THE  LATEST   WORD    OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

to  rise.  When  they  realize  the  completeness  of  the 
divine  power,  they  are  for  the  first  time  ready  to  obey  it 
freely.  Many  a  man  must  meet  his  Waterloo,  and  medi- 
tate upon  his  downfall  in  some  moral  St.  Helena,  before 
he  is  ready  for  the  restorative  work  of  divine  grace.  In 
the  case,  therefore,  of  the  morally  stubborn  and  callous, 
who  go  out  of  this  world,  defiant,  reckless,  wilful,  it  is 
impossible  to  avoid  the  inference  that  the  overthrow 
which  would  have  been  a  necessary  part  of  their  history 
here,  if  the  whole  work  of  salvation  had  been  enacted 
before  our  eyes,  will  go  on  behind  the  veil.  The  desperado 
who  "  dies  game,"  as  well  as  the  selfish  worldling  who 
goes  hence  with  a  sneer  at  the  tears  of  his  friends,  will 
be  humbled  and  reduced  by  stern,  punitive  agents  of 
divine  law.  The  resistance  of  the  divine  order  to  their 
wilfulness,  must  continue  until  they  learn  that  the  Infinite 
Will  is  stronger  than  the  finite.  Then  the  time  is  ripe 
for  the  healing  work  of  grace.  If  overthrow  is  necessary, 
it  must  be  borne.     If  not  here,  then  hereafter. 

Let  us  add,  at  this  point,  that  the  belief  in  the  future 
punishment  of  sins  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  this 
life  affords  so  many  instances  of  what  may  be  called 
cumulative  punishment.  All  the  consequences  of  sin  are 
not  coincident  with  its  commission.  Some  of  them  are 
frequently  held  back,  gather  but  slowly,  and  befall  the  soul 
long  after  the  beginnings  of  the  sin  which  caused  them. 


THIS  LIFE  AND   THE  NEXT.  167 

They  are  often  kept  in  the  leash,  as  it  were,  until  the 
providential  moment  when  their  stroke  will  be  most 
sweeping.  The  harvest  of  evil-doing  is  often  a  long  time 
in  ripening;  and  the  sickle  is  not  put  in  until  the  full 
time  is  come.  The  defaulter  goes  for  years  undetected. 
The  adulterer  may  cover  his  tracks  through  many  seasons. 
The  hypocrite  often  keeps  up  the  show  of  virtue  so  well 
that  the  world  calls  him  saint.  But  after  long  immunity 
the  tardy  blow  may  fall  in  a  way  to  bring  down  all  the 
retributions  at  once.  The  calm  and  quiet  days  may  be 
succeeded  by  a  very  cyclone  of  vengeance.  Then  comes 
the  devastation  of  the  good  name,  the  blight  of  briUiant 
laurels,  the  wreck  of  influence  and  reputation.  Then  is 
the  burning  of  the  tares.  In  these  crises  of  life,  evil 
breaks  down  and  is  exposed.  They  are  natural  culmina- 
tions of  wrong-doing.  And  in  cases  where  death  inter- 
venes before  the  cHmax  of  the  overthrow  is  reached,  and 
when  we  feel  sure  that  nothing  but  the  removal  of  the 
offender  from  the  earth  has  saved  him  from  complete 
exposure  and  humiliation,  who  can  repress  the  question 
whether  death  has  interrupted  the  steady  drift  of  events, 
or  whether,  in  the  invisible  world,  there  be  not  in  store, 
the  same  judgment  of  disclosure  and  downfall,  the  morti- 
fication of  pride  and  the  conquest  of  the  stubborn  will, 
as  might  have  overtaken  the  evil-doer  had  he  continued 
in  the  earth.     It  is  true,  to  use  words  familiar  in'  discus- 


1 68         THE  LATEST  WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

sions  of  this  matter,  that  we  "  get  our  punishment  as  we 
go  along."  But  sometimes  only  in  part.  There  are 
reckoning  times  of  God,  when  delayed  judgments  fall,  as 
they  fell  on  Jerusalem,  on  Rome,  and  on  slaveholding 
America.  There  are  many  cases  in  which  our  minds 
find  no  satisfaction  for  the  sense  of  justice,  save  in  the 
thought,  that  haughty  sin,  which  holds  its  head  so  high 
in  this  world,  will  in  the  next,  be  brought  low  in  the  dust, 
under  the  culminating  judgments  of  God. 

If  now  we  turn  from  the  case  of  the  impenitent,  to  that 
of  the  penitent  dead,  Universalism  affirms  that  even  they 
may  expect  such  discipline  and  chastening  experiences 
as  contribute  to  moral  progress.  Though  we  go  into  the 
next  life  with  humble,  contrite  hearts,  we  still  have  wrong 
tendencies  which  need  restraint,  imperfections  to  be  cor- 
rected, and  deficient  affections  to  be  developed.  Now, 
whatsoever  means  God  takes  to  remove  these  defects 
are  remedial  and  disciplinary.  They  are  like  the  means 
by  which  a  dull  scholar  is  urged  forward.  They  are  like 
the  exercise  which  a  physician  prescribes  for  his  patient. 
They  hurt,  but  they  help.  All  the  efforts  of  souls  but 
little  trained  in  virtue  may  be  of  this  nature,  in  the  other 
life.  We  are  not  permitted  to  know.  Revelation  is 
silent  upon  this  topic.  But  it  seems  no  more  than 
rational  to  suppose  that  the  same  plan  by  which  God  has 
seen  fit  to  educate  us  into  holiness  in  this  life,  should  hold 


THIS  LIFE  AND   THE  NEXT.  169 

over  into  the  next.  And  according  to  the  most  ancient 
order  of  the  moral  creation,  the  sanctification  of  the  soul 
is  accomphshed  by  discipline  and  correction.  Whatever 
remedial  or  educational  influences  are  necessary  to  our 
growth  in  that  Hfe,  it  may  be  expected,  will  exercise  even 
those  who  have  learned  the  lesson  of  resignation  and 
submissiveness.  If  we  believe  in  eternal  progress  we 
must  beheve  in  the  discipHnes  by  which  progress  is 
secured.  But  these  are  very  different  from  punishment, 
which  involves  alienation  from  God,  moral  retributive 
suffering,  and  the  agencies  of  pain,  employed  to  restrain 
or  overwhelm  the  sinful  heart.  The  former  are  entirely 
compatible  with  happiness  and  moral  peace,  but  the  latter 
are  not.  And  while  disciphne  will  be  needful  for  all  who 
enter  the  next  world,  as  beings  morally  deficient,  punish- 
ment will  only  be  inflicted  so  far  as  old  courses  of  sin 
have  not  yet  worked  out  their  results  of  penalty,  or  so 
far  as  a  continuous  disposition  to  wrong-doing  calls  for 
retribution.  But  when  penitence  has  done  its  saving 
work,  however  low  down  in  the  scale  of  moral  being  it 
finds  the  soul,  these  penalties  will  cease,  and  the  chastise- 
ments of  God  will  only  exercise  the  soul  as  helpful 
restorative  discipline. 

If  we  have  not  referred  before  to  the  helpful  conditions 
which  will  make  the  future  life  by  its  very  nature  a  re- 
demptive state,  it  certainly  is  not  because  this  thought  is 


lyo    THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

of  slight  importance.  Universalism  regards  the  next  life 
as  a  condition  full  of  hope  and  promise  to  sinful  souls. 
For  then  they  begin  an  existence  in  which  many  of  the 
surroundings  which  in  this  life  have  made  sin  easy,  and 
even  have  proved  temptations  to  evil,  will  be  abohshed. 
The  body,  though  not  the  seat  of  sin,  is  a  fruitful  source 
of  temptations,  and  a  provocation  to  many  of  the  grossest 
and  most  degraded  acts  of  the  mind.  Many  times,  no 
doubt,  the  will  consents  to  sin  only  from  the  force  of 
overpowering  passions  of  the  body.  In  a  condition, 
therefore,  in  which  these  are  removed,  the  soul  will  have 
a  fuller  opportunity  to  redeem  itself  and  to  break  from 
the  bondage  to  evil.  The  inebriate  will  be  better  able  to 
overcome  his  sinful  dispositions,  if  he  is  no  longer  ham- 
pered by  the  diseased  appetites  of  his  body.  The  liber- 
tine will  be  free  from  the  foul  allurements  which  have 
corrupted  his  nature.  And  whatever  pressure  has  rested 
on  the  soul,  cramping  its  powers  and  repressing  its 
aspirations  by  the  carnal  desires  which  belong  to  its 
earthly  environment,  will  be  removed  with  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  body.  This  will  be  a  great  gain  to  the  soul, 
—  a  negative  gain,  no  doubt,  —  merely  the  removal  of 
unfavorable  surroundings.  But  nevertheless  it  will  be 
a  gain.  It  will  be  like  the  transfer  of  a  sick  man  from 
a  hurtful  to  a  salubrious  climate.  The  change  does  not 
cure    him,   but   it  puts  him  in  surroundings  which  will. 


THIS  LIFE  AND   THE  NEXT.  171 


Death  does  not  save  the  soul,  but  removes  it  to  surround- 
ings incalculably  more  favorable  to  the  work  of  grace 
than  those  of  this  earth.  The  voices  of  the  heart  which 
plead  for  righteousness  will  no  longer  be  drowned  by  the 
noisy  clamors  of  appetite.  The  evil  inclinations  of  the 
mind  will  no  longer  be  strengthened  by  the  morbid 
cravings  of  the  flesh.  The  suggestive  and  tempting  sur- 
roundings which  have  so  often  excited  the  soul  to  trans- 
gression will  have  disappeared.  The  ignorance  which 
concealed  many  a  reality  which  might  have  warned  or 
persuaded  the  mind  to  avoid  the  evil  it  meditated,  will 
give  place  to  clearer  revelations  of  the  truth,  and  more 
powerful  motives.  Three  things  which  are  a  heavy  weight 
on  the  soul  in  its  battle  with  evil,  we  shall  leave  behind 
us.  We  shall  be  free  from  the  physical  body,  with  all  its 
tendencies  to  overcome  the  spirit  with  carnal  practices. 
We  shall  be  clear  of  the  surroundings  of  the  body,  the 
earthly  environment,  which  contains  so  much  to  distract 
the  moral  energies,  and  which  thrusts  its  importunate 
demands  between  us  and  the  ideals  of  conscience.  And 
we  shall  be  emancipated  from  much  of  that  ignorance 
which  now  subtracts  from  the  restraints  and  motives  of 
the    soul. 

Moreover,  if  with  this  great  change  the  soul  passes 
into  a  realm  where  new  surroundings  impress  the  mind 
with  the  solemn  reality  of  many  things  which  had  hitherto 


172    THE  LATEST    WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

seemed  unreal,  is  it  unreasonable  to  expect  that  great 
moral  changes  will  be  effected  in  the  character?  Under 
the  stimulus  of  the  release  from  old  temptations,  and  the 
access  of  light  such  as  may  be  confidently  expected  in 
that  glorified  state,  why  may  we  not  look  on  the  change 
from  this  life  to  the  next  as  a  passage  from  night  to  dawn, 
in  which  the  dormant  or  down-trodden  spiritual  energies 
will  wake  and  begin  the  labors  of  holiness  !  There  is 
that  in  the  very  nature  of  this  rising  of  the  soul  into  a 
higher  life  which  suggests  a  wonderful  upheaval  of  the 
spirit,  the  overthrow  of  its  old  prejudices,  the  cracking 
of  the  hard  shell  of  habit,  and  the  exposure  of  the  mind 
to  dazzling  moral  light.  Under  such  an  experience  who 
can  doubt  that  the  soul  will  be  quickened  most  power- 
fully? Who  can  doubt  that  the  process  of  redemption, 
even  of  the  stubborn,  will  be  wonderfully  hastened,  and 
that  the  future  state  itself  will  be  one  of  the  sublimest  of 
God's  agencies  for  the  conversion  of  men  ! 


ETERNAL  LIFE. 


173 


ETERNAL  LIFE. 

BY  PROF.  C.  H.  LEONARD. 

'T^HE  Gospels  speak  of  two  classes  of  persons,  the 
"righteous"  and  the  "unrighteous,"  the  "blessed" 
and  the  "  cursed."  It  is  clear,  also,  that  Jesus  beheved 
in  "hfe  eterna}"  for  the  righteous,  the  good;  and  in 
"punishment  eternal"  for  the  "unrighteous,"  the  bad. 
And  it  is  needless  to  say  that  all  the  methods  of  rehgion 
will  be  determined  by  the  meaning  we  give  to  these  words 
of  the  Saviour,  —  by  the  conception,  that  is,  which  we 
have  of  the  states  and  consequences  that  these  two  sets  of 
phrases  describe. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  give  what  we  conceive 
to  be  the  true  view  of  the  t^vo  characters,  and  the  two  cor- 
responding destinies,  as  those  characters  and  destinies  are 
portrayed  in  the  Gospels,  and  especially  in  the  sapngs  of 
Jesus.  The  inquiry  will  be  :  Who  are  the  good,  the 
"righteous,"  the  "blessed;"  who  are  the  bad,  the  "un- 
righteous," the  "cursed;"  what  precisely  is  meant  by 
the  "life  eternal"  which  the  good  enjoy,  and  the 
"punishment   eternal"  which  the  bad  suffer.     On  each 


174        THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

of  these  points  we  must,  of  course,  be  brief;  and  yet  we 
hope  to  omit  nothing  which  will  be  necessary  to  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  matter.     Consider  then  :  — 

I.  Who  are  the  good,  the  "righteous"?  We  cannot 
do  better  than  seek  the  answer  in  the  Saviour's  own 
words  and  illustrations.  In  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of 
Matthew's  Gospel,  we  read  that  those  whom  the  Lord 
called  good,  the  "righteous,"  did  not  know  that  they  were 
so.  He  told  them  that,  in  giving  food  to  the  hungry, 
drink  to  the  thirsty,  shelter  to  the  houseless,  clothing  to 
the  naked,  comfort  to  the  sick,  they  were  doing  the  same 
things  to  him.  This  was  what  the  "  righteous  "  could  not 
understand.  "  When  saw  we  thee  an-hungered,  and  fed 
thee  ?  or  thirsty,  and  gave  thee  drink  ?  When  saw  we  thee 
a  stranger,  and  took  thee  in  ?  or  naked,  and  clothed  thee  ? 
Or  when  saw  we  thee  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  visited 
thee?"  The  reply  was  :  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it 
unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done 
it  unto  me."  This  must  have  seemed  very  simple  to  those 
who  heard  Jesus  speak ;  and,  how  hard  soever  for  them  to 
believe  that  they  were  included  among  the  number  for 
whom  so  great  an  "inheritance"  was  "prepared,"  they 
could  not  have  failed  to  understand  that  the  "  righteous  " 
man  is  the  man  of  righteous  deeds,  and  just  such  homely 
deeds,  too,  as  lie  in  the  way  of  almost  any  one  of  us.  Nor 
can  we  fail  to  see  that  in  these  solemn  sentences  which 


ETERNAL  LIFE.  175 


announce  the  Divine  judgments,  the  very  heart  of  Mercy 
speaks  as  if  it  were  ready  to  break  for  the  sufferings  of 
the  world,  —  the  most  impressive  fact  of  all  being  that  the 
Saviour  himself  suffers  mth  the  humble  poor,  the  hungry, 
the  naked,  the  prisoner,  and  that  they  who,  from  a  pure 
motive,  try  to  help  God's  poor  and  suffering  ones  are,  on 
that  account,  "righteous,"   "blessed."     Besides,  in   this 
whole  discourse,  the  most  remarkable  that  ever  fell  from 
human  hps,  we  have  nothing  like  an  enumeration  of  tests, 
—  surely,  nothing  like  what  we  are  apt  to  hear  to-day. 
It  is  wonderful  that  nothing  is  said  about  faith,  pious  trust, 
repentance,  conversion,  regeneration.     Absolutely  nothing 
is  spoken  of  here  but  the  every-day  conduct  of  one  who 
feeds  the  hungry,  clothes  the  naked,  visits  the  sick  and  the 
sinful;  and  we  are  forced  to  believe  that  the   man  of 
righteous  deeds  is  the  righteous  man.     The  doctrine  is  in 
one   plain  text  of  that  Apostle  who  knew  best  how  to  in- 
terpret the  Master's  words  :  "  Little  children,  let  no  man 
deceive  you.     He  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous, 
even  as  God  is  righteous."     At  the  risk  of  repetition,  we 
have  to  say,  then,  that  there  can  be  no  good  life  without 
good  works.     When,  however,  we  say  in  the  language  of 
St.  John,  "  He  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous,"  we 
do  not  mean,  of  course,  that  such  an  one  is  without  right 
thought  and  right  feeling,  that  he  is  destitute  of  faith  and 
love.     We  mean  only  that  what  a  man  thinks  and  feels 


176    THE  LATEST  WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

must  be  brought  out  in  his  actions,  else  the  thought  and 
the  feeling  will  pass  for  ever  away.  Hence  it  was  that 
Jesus  laid  stress  upon  conduct,  "fruits."  He  perplexes 
us  with  no  refinements  of  language.  He  talks  of  things 
that  all  persons  can  understand.  It  is  assumed,  in  all  his 
teaching,  that  the  man  of  right  and  true  life  will  be  a  man 
of  faith  and  love ;  for  these  are  the  very  things  that  con- 
stitute the  man,  and  make  the  action  of  the  life  right 
and  true.  But  this  is  not  the  whole  truth  of  Jesus. 
The  faith  and  love  will  not  stay  in  the  soul  where  they  do 
not  prompt  to  deeds.  Thought,  feeling,  religious  spirit, 
will  not  live  and  grow  until  they  begin  to  work  outwardly. 
Righteous  feeling  does  not  make  a  righteous  man.  All 
that  is  pure  and  devout  within  a  man  must  be  invested 
with  conduct,  become  a  part  of  nature  and  liistory,  before 
there  can  be  any  thing  like  righteousness.  Just  as  the 
sorry  feeling  is  not  all  of  repentance  ;  just  as  that  feeling 
must  lead  to  amendment,  to  reformation,  altered  habits,  so 
pious  emotions  are  not  all  even  of  piety,  —  surely  not  all  of 
righteousness.  The  emotion  must  break  out  into  energy. 
The  feeling  within  must  become  doing.  The  soul  was 
made  to  bear  fruit ;  and  it  will  not  do  to  let  it  run  to  leaf. 
Nor  must  its  vitality  be  headed  back.  It  must  go  forth  to 
fill  every  part  of  life,  and  to  mature  some  best  product. 
There  is  no  other  way  for  it  to  be  righteous,  but  to  do 
righteousness.     Christ,   therefore,   puts    deeds    into    the 


ETERNAL  LIFE.  177 


foreground  of  requirement.  "  Do  you  want  to  be  a 
good  man?  Do  you  want  to  live?"  "Keep  the  com- 
mandments." "This  do,  and  thou  shalt  live."  "Ye 
are  mine,  if  you  do  whatsoever  I  command  you."  When- 
ever sincerity  goes  to  Jesus  with  the  deepest  question  of 
the  soul,  he  throws  it  at  once  upon  actions.  He  says : 
What  are  you  doing?  What  are  the  commandments? 
Are  you  keeping  them  ?  If  you  are,  it  is  well.  You  are 
on  the  way  to  the  best  life.  Do  the  work  that  is  nearest  at 
hand,  and  so  continue  to  do,  until,  by  rising  stages  of  suc- 
cess, you  reach  a  better  and  better  state.  And  thus,  in 
the  very  methods  of  righteousness,  the  Saviour  recognizes 
its  degrees,  ranging  from  lower  to  higher.  The  question 
is  not.  Have  you  done  all  that  a  soul  is  called  to  do  ?  but. 
Are  you  doing  what  you  have  the  might  to  do?  The 
question,  again,  is  not,  Have  you  reached  the  heights  of 
God  ?  but.  Are  you  moving  towards  them  ?  The  "  right- 
eous "  include  all  of  right  life,  all  on  any  range  of  existence, 
who  are  doing  righteousness.  Some,  doubtless,  are  at  the 
base  of  God's  hill ;  the  feet  of  many  are  upon  the  slopes  ; 
and  others,  we  fain  would  hope,  are  nearing  the  summit. 

2.  After  what  has  been  said  above,  but  little  is  required 
upon  the  next  point :  Who  are  the  unrighteous  ?  The 
question  is  virtually  answered.  If  the  "  righteous  "  man  is 
the  man  of  righteous  deeds,  the  "  unrighteous  "  man  is 
one   who   refuses,   or   neglects,   to    do   righteous   deeds. 

12 


ijS    THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

Jesus,  ill  the  person  of  the  poor,  the  suffering,  the  sinful, 
is  not  cared  for ;  and  he  still  says,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
not  unto  one  of  these  the  least  of  God's  lowly  ones,  ye  did 
it  not  unto  me."     You  have  not  done  righteous  deeds. 
To  state   the  doctrine  in  another  way :  The  unrighteous 
man  is  one  whose  thoughts,  feelings,  and  conduct  do  not 
correspond.     Or,  if  they  correspond,  the  conduct  is  but 
the  expression  of  a  wrong  inward  state.     The  correspond- 
ence in  this  case  is  the  fatal  thing.     In  the  case  of  a  right- 
eous man,  the  greatest  glory  is,  that  the  inward  and  outward 
aspects  of  the  life  are  accordant,  —  exactly  correspond. 
The  one  assures  and  completes  the  other.     Inward  faith 
and  love  are  the  soul  of  deeds ;  but  deeds  react,  and  be- 
come the  one  great  method  of  the  soul,  giving  it  shape 
and  permanence.     In  other  words,  character  is  not  born 
until  body  is  given  to  thought  and  feeling.     When  good 
thought  and  good  feeling  find  investiture  in  action,  we  get 
good  character.     When  bad  thought  and  bad  feeling  ma- 
ture in  conduct,  we  get  bad  character.     In  each  case 
what  sets  the  seal  to  the  life  is  conduct.     Therefore  the 
Gospel  accents  deeds.     They  are  the  salt  that  saves  the 
life ;  they  alone  give  health,  consistence,  force,  to  what 
would  else   evaporate  or  decay.     And  this,  in  principle, 
must   be  as  true   of  the   one  class  as  of  the    other,  of 
the  bad  as  well  as  the  good.     And  it  ought  to  be  said  of 
the  latter  class  as  of  the  former,  that  what  fixes  character 


ETERNAL    LIFE.  179 


is  not  one  act,  nor  two,  nor  t^venty,  but  the  habit  of  ^vrong 
thinking,  feeUng,  and  acting.  The  question  in  regard  to 
any  man  is,  Which  way  does  his  Hfe  sweep  ?  No  matter 
about  the  ripples  on  the  top  of  the  Hfe ;  at  any  rate,  these 
are  relatively  unimportant,  as  compared  with  the  current  of 
the  Ufe.  Is  that  flowing  in  the  right  direction?  On  the 
whole,  prevailingly,  that  is,  does  the  man  move  towards 
God,  and  all  good  objects?  If  so,  he  is  a  good  man.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  life  sweeps  the  wrong  way ;  if,  on 
the  whole,  the  life  is  a  descent  towards  the  things  that  are 
opposed  to  God  and  goodness,  that  fact  determines  the 
character  of  the  hfe.  It  is  bad,  and  bad  simply  because  it 
goes  the  bad  way.  Its  whole  movement,  as  determined 
by  that  within,  which  really  constitutes  the  life,  shows  what 
it  is.  No  chance  deed,  no  single,  sudden  lapse,  deter- 
mines character,  but  what  has  the  complexion  and  force 
of  habit.  The  one  good  deed,  the  one  action,  though  it 
come  of  good  impulse,  does  not  make  a  good  man.  It 
does  not  follow,  that  the  man  who  is  moved  to  extem- 
pore pity,  and,  out  of  that  fresh  feeling,  gives  largely  to 
the  poor,  is  necessarily,  and  on  that  account,  a  benevolent 
man.  He  may  be  a  miser,  for  all  that.  Nor  does  it  fol- 
low that  a  man  is  a  bad  man,  in  character  bad,  because  he 
has  been  overtaken  in  a  fault.  What  gives  character  to 
character  is  continuance  in  well  or  evil  doing.  Indeed, 
the  original  word  from  which  we  get  our  word  charac- 


l8o        THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

ter,  signifies  to  cut  or  carve  as  upon  stone  or  other  hard 
material.  So  character  is  the  shape  of  the  man  as  pro- 
duced by  the  sharp  incision  of  thought,  the  subtle  handling 
of  feeling,  and  the  force  of  deeds.  Character  is  the  result 
of  this  mysterious  wear  of  the  inner  and  the  outer  life ; 
and,  of  course,  admits  of  degrees  of  excellence,  and  stages 
of  deformity. 

This,  then,  seems  to  be  the  New  Testament  idea  of  the 
good  and  the  bad,  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  These 
are  the  two  characters.  What  now  are  the  two  destinies  ? 
These  might  be  inferred  from  the  two  characters.  There 
is  a  sense,  indeed,  if  thought  could  only  grasp  the  truth, 
in  which  character  is  destiny ;  because  all  questions  of 
destiny  may  be  resolved  into  questions  of  being.  The 
question  so  often  put.  What  is  to  become  of  us  ?  is  irrele- 
vant and  impertinent  in  the  light  of  a  true  psychology ;  for 
character  and  destiny  are  inseparable,  if  not  identical. 
The  good  man  is,  not  is  to  be  blest;  and  the  bad 
man  is,  not  is  to  be  cursed.  Good  character  does 
not  so  much  promise,  it  constitutes  the  eternal  life ; 
and  bad  character  is  not  so  much  threatened  with  "  loss," 
"  death."  It  is  loss,  it  is  death.  What  it  is  denied,  or 
deprived  of,  is  not  so  bad  as  its  own  state,  just  as  loss 
of  sight  is  worse  than  any  thing  which  results  from  that 
loss.  It  is  sad  not  to  see  the  countenance  of  one's  friends, 
and  the  blush  of  beauty  on  the  face  of  nature,  but  it  is 


ETERNAL  LIFE.  i8l 


sadder  to  be  blind.  So,  as  the  best  thing  you  can  say  of 
a  good  man  is,  He  is  a  good  man  ;  so  the  worst  thing  you 
can  say  of  a  bad  man  is,  He  is  a  bad  man.  Nothing  that 
comes  of  character  can  suggest  so  real  or  so  complete  an 
idea  of  destiny  as  the  character  itself,  good  or  bad. 

But  we  shall  keep  more  closely  to  the  method  of  this 
essay,  if  we  inquire,  first,  as  to  the  meaning  of  eternal  life, 
which  the  good  are  said  to  enjoy,  and  of  the  eternal  punish- 
ment, or,  to  preserve  the  antithesis,  the  eternal  death, 
which  the  bad  are  said  to  suffer. 

I.  The  eternal  hfe.  In  attempting  to  define  this  phrase, 
or  to  describe  the  state  which  it  points  out,  we  cannot  do 
better,  perhaps,  than  to  ask  how  it  is  used  in  the  New 
Testament.  And  the  moment  we  do  consult  Gospels  and 
Epistles,  we  are  surprised  to  see  how  frequently  life  is  re- 
ferred to  as  something  different  from  existpnce,  and  differ- 
ent, too,  from  immortality  itself.  The  one  thing  that 
men  are  called  to  is  life  ;  the  one  thing  that  they  are  eager 
to  secure  is  Hfe ;  and,  more  than  any  thing  else,  life  is 
the  final  cause  of  all  Christian  training  and  discipline. 
We  may  not  always  understand  the  method  of  Christianity, 
but  we  can  hardly  fail  to  see  that  its  crowning  object  is 
ii/e.  If  it  bring  instruction  for  ignorance,  pardon  for 
penitence,  salvation  for  sin,  it  is  that  the  taught  and  the 
forgiven  and  the  saved  soul  may  be  quickened,  made 
alive  ^vith  the  life  which  it  is  its  special  office  to  impart. 


lS2         THE  LATEST    WORD    OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

It  is  wonderful,  indeed,  to  note  with  what  recurrence  the 
Saviour  speaks  of  life  as  the  end  beyond  all  others  in 
the  great  work  which  he  came  to  do.  As  we  have  just 
hinted,  he  came  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth,  to  tell  men 
\\-hat  they  are,  and  where  they  are,  and  what,  as  souls,  they 
are  to  do  and  be ;  he  came  to  fulfil  the  law,  to  complete 
all  law  in  lo\-e,  so  that  duty  will  be  no  more  duty  than 
pleasure ;  he  came  to  save  the  soul,  not  in  the  sense  of 
rescuing  it  from  a  penal  doom,  but  in  the  sense  of  emanci- 
pating it  from  all  wrong.  But  he  does  not  stop  with  this 
threefold  work,  great  and  glorious  as  it  is.  He  goes  on  to 
complete  it  all  in  the  communication  of  a  life  of  which  he 
is  the  perfect  possessor,  and  the  only  communicator  to  men. 
He  does  every  thing  else  for  us  that,  at  last,  he  may  do  this 
greater  work  in  enlivening  the  souls  which  his  truth  has 
instructed  and  his  salvation  has  blessed.  Now,  this  Hfe  is 
called  "  eternal ;  "  and  the  first  thing  that  we  learn  about  it 
is,  that  it  is  a  present  possession.  "  He  that  believeth  on  the 
Son  /laf/i  eternal  life."  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  He 
that  believeth  on  me  hath  eternal  Hfe."  "  Whoso  eateth 
my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life."  "  Who- 
soever believeth  in  him  (Christ)  should  not  perish,  but  have 
eternal  life."  "  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I 
shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  it  shall  be  in  him  a 
fountain  "  — '^riyi]  —  "  of  water  springing  up  into  everlast- 
ing life."     "  He  that  heareth  my  word,  and  believeth  on 


ETERNAL  LIFE.  183 


Him  that  sent  me,  kath  eternal  life,  and  shall  not  come 
into  condemnation,  but  has  passed  from  death  into  life." 
These  sayings,  and  many  others  which  might  be  quoted, 
show  that  the  eternal  life  of  which  Jesus  speaks  is  a 
present  possession  of  the  human  soul ;  that  it  is,  —  not 
will  be.  Meyer,  whose  "  orthodoxy  "  will  not  be  ques- 
tioned, and  whose  learning  places  him  in  the  front  rank  of 
New-Testament  critics,  says,  in  commenting  upon  several 
of  the  above  passages,  and  especially  upon  the  words 
t,(oriV  nimviov,  that  they  "  signify  the  eternal  Messianic  life, 
which  the  believer  already  possesses."  "  It  is  that  moral 
and  blessed  Hfe,  which  is  independent  of  death."  Liicke, 
also,  whose  opinions  are  eagerly  sought  by  all  students  of 
exegesis,  says  that  the  i^oor]  aiwnog,  the  eternal  life,  is  the 
"sum  of  Messianic  blessedness,"  "an  existing  life,"  "a 
present  reality  "  in  the  soul.  He  says  over  and  over  again 
that  "  hath  "  and  "  hath  passed  "  indicate  that  the  "  life  " 
spoken  of  is  not  a  life  after  death,  but  one  that  begins  here 
in  this  world,  —  a  higher  kind  of  life,  "a  resurrection 
process  prior  to  bodily  death."  So  much,  then,  ought 
to  be  plain,  that  the  eternal  life,  however  defined,  is  a 
present  possession.  It  is  what  the  believer  in  Christ  /las. 
He  confides  in  him  who  is  the  life ;  and  his  mind  and 
heart  are  fed  out  of  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  living  Lord 
and  Redeemer. 

But  we  do  not  reach  the  defining  characteristic  of  the 


184         THE  LATEST    WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

eternal  life  by  study  of  those  texts  alone  which  speak  of  it 
as  a  present  possession.  Indeed,  the  word  possession 
is  misleading.  It  may  refer  to  what  is  external  to  the  soul 
itself,  when,  in  truth,  it  does  refer,  in  this  case,  to  what  is 
inward  and  substantive.  The  soul  does  not  possess  the 
eternal  life  as  it  may  be  said  to  possess  the  objects  of 
nature,  the  facts  of  history,  and  the  experiences  of  men. 
The  eternal  life  is  not  so  much  an  object  of  contemplation 
as  a  fact  of  being.  At  any  rate,  it  is  so  much  a  part  of  the 
soul  that,  though  we  may  t/imk  of  it  as  separate  from  being, 
it  is  inseparable  from  it.  It  is  the  soul's  life,  and  therefore 
a  fact  of  consciousness.  The  entire  truth  is  stated  in  the 
words  of  Jesus  :  ''  This  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know 
thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou  hast 
sent."  The  most  eminent  teachers  of  the  ancient  church 
quoted  this  verse  as  Christ's  own  definition  of  the  phrase, 
*'  eternal  life  ;  "  and  the  best  modern  biblical  critics  agree 
that  it  refers  to  a  state  of  the  soul  itself.  They  teach  that  the 
"  knowledge  "  of  God  and  Christ  is  not  a  means  of  attaining 
the  eternal  life  ;  but  that  that  "  knowledge  "  is  vital,  and 
constitutes  the  eternal  life.  This  "  knowledge  "  of  God  and 
Christ,  which  comes  of  inward  experience  of  the  truth, 
and  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  is  the  eternal  life.  The 
"  knowledge  "  is  the  subjective,  formative  principle  of  the 
"  life."  It  is  its  very  germ,  whose  unfolding  is  possible  in 
this  world,  amid  the  mortal  hindrances,  and  whose  fuller 


ETERNAL  LIFE.  185 


development  will  appear  hereafter,  when  all  mortal  con- 
cealments are  taken  away.  This  is  the  view  taken  by  De 
Wette,  Meyer,  Olshausen,  Tholuck,  Bengel,  Alford,  and 
many  other  German  and  EngHsh  commentators.  They 
all  accent  that  interpretation  of  the  words  of  Jesus  which 
makes  eternal  life  a  state  of  the  soul.  They  all  recognize 
a  "  spirit "  in  man,  in  all  men,  that  is,  which  is  the  root  of 
the  eternal  Ufe.  The  Hfe  was  with  the  Father  from  the  be- 
ginning, was  manifested  in  the  Son,  and  is  given  to  the 
soul  by  the  Father  through  the  Son.  The  eternal  Ufe, 
therefore,  is  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul,  and  of  the  soul  in 
God.  Fichte  says,  "  Love  is  hfe.  Where  I  love,  I  hve. 
What  I  love,  I  live  from  that."  And  this  is  not  only  pro- 
found spiritual  philosophy,  but  the  deepest  truth  of  revela- 
tion. St.  Paul  teaches  us  that  we  love  earthly  things 
because  our  life  is  earthly,  and  that  love  of  heavenly  things 
comes  of  heavenly  life.  If  we  love  what  is  right  and  true 
and  good,  our  Hfe  is  spiritual,  eternal.  If  we  love  lower 
things,  earthly  things,  our  hfe  is  earthly,  temporal.  If  we 
love  God  as  he  is  shown  to  us  by  Jesus,  we  hve  from  God, 
and  so  Hve  the  eternal  Hfe.  Eternity  has  reaUy  begun  in 
that  soul  that  is  deepening  into  life  from  a  pure  love  of 
right,  and  truth,  and  goodness. 

If  it  were  necessary  to  add  any  thing  to  what  has  already 
been  said,  to  make  clear  that  the  eternal  Hfe  is  greater  than 
mere  duration,  that  it  is  a  state  of  the  soul,  and  a  very 


1 86         THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

present,  inward  good,  we  might  refer  to  those  incidents 
and  sayings  of  the  Gospels  which  make  it  sure  that  this 
great  Kfe  is  something  man  can  get  by  his  own  en- 
deavors. When  the  young  man  asks  Jesus  what  he  shall 
do  that  he  may  have  eternal  life,  the  Master  replies  in  such 
a  way  that  the  young  man  feels  that  he  must  do  something 
to  secure  the  great  boon  and  blessing.  If  the  questioner 
had  been  thinking  of  mere  continuance  of  existence  after 
the  death  of  the  body,  Jesus  would  not  have  answered  as 
he  did.  It  is  evident  that  he  interpreted  the  question  to 
mean  :  What  shall  I  do  that  I  may  get  the  true  Hfe,  —  the 
inward,  spiritual  life?  To  do  good,  to  help  the  poor, 
to  keep  the  commandments,  is  the  way  to  become  a  better 
man.  This  better  life  within  is  what  the  young  man 
wanted,  and  Jesus  spoke  of  the  only  way  of  getting  it :  by 
keeping  the  divine  law,  helping  others,  following  him.  In 
substance,  this  is  what  he  said  to  Peter,  also,  when  that 
disciple  told  his  Lord  that  he  and  the  others  had  left  all 
to  follow  him.  "  There  is  no  man  that  hath  left  the 
dearest  treasures  of  this  world,  but  shall  receive  a  greater 
good ;  and  the  greatest  good  which  will  accrue  from  all 
your  denials  is  the  eternal  life,  the  deeper  life  of  your  mind 
and  heart.  Leave  lower  things  and  employments,  and 
follow  me  in  the  higher  Hfe,  and  you  will  gain  in  truth,  in 
purity,  in  love.  The  spiritual  or  inward  life  is  compen- 
sation enough  for  all  your  denials  and  sacrifices."     The 


ETERNAL  LIFE.  187 


words  of  Jesus,  then,  rightly  interpreted,  show  that  the 
eternal  Hfe  is  something  which  we  may  secure  by  inward 
and  outward  work, — just  such  service,  indeed,  as  will  re- 
sult in  a  fairer  mind  and  richer  heart.  There  would  be 
little  sense  in  calling  us  to  right  and  true  and  loving  action 
as  preparation  for  endless  existence.  But  such  action  is 
rightful  preparation  for  the  eternal  life  j  since  that  refers  to 
the  kind  of  life,  and  not  primarily  to  the  quantity  or  dura- 
tion of  it.  We  shall  be  confirmed  in  this  view  as  we  go  on 
to  consider  what  is  presented  in  the  New  Testament  as  the 
natural  antithesis  of  the  eternal  life. 

2.  The  eternal  punishment.  We  write  ^/^r;?^/ punish- 
ment, because  it  is  conceded  by  scholars  that  the  words 
"  everlasting  "  and  "  eternal  "  stand,  in  the  English  version 
of  the  Scriptures  as  the  equivalent  of  the  Greek  word 
uiojvin^.  In  the  passage  so  often  quoted,  —  Matt.  xxv.  46, 
—  "  •AolaGiv  aicoptov  "  and  "  ^cotjv  aiwviov  "  are  set  forth  as 
the  opposite  destinies  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  If 
we  adopt  into  our  language  the  word  which  Tennyson  has 
made  familiar,  the  saying  of  Jesus  will  read  :  "  These  shall 
go  away  into  *  seonian '  punishment,  but  the  righteous 
into  '  aeonian  '  life."  The  adjective  (aeonian)  means  no 
more,  no  less,  in  the  former  case,  when  applied  to  punish- 
ment, than  in  the  latter,  when  apphed  to  life.  yEonian 
life,  as  we  have  tried  to  show,  is  the  life  of  God  in  the 
human  soul.     The  quality,  and  not  the  quantity,  of  the  life 


1 88    THE  LATEST  WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

is  pointed  out.     Tlierefore,  the  aeonian  punishment  is  the 
kind  of  punishment,  and  not  the  duration  of  it.     Grant,  as 
some  persons  are  eager  to  have  us,  that  the  Greek  noun 
al(ov  means  eter?tity.     The  most  we  could  say,  even  then, 
would  be  that  nlmviog  means  belonging  to  eternity  ;  and,  of 
course,  it  would  be  just  as  fair  to  say  that  the  aeonian  pun- 
ishment is  the  punishment  which  takes  place  in  eternity, 
as  that  it  is   punishment  which   lasts   through    eternity. 
Some   critics,  it  may  be,  have  been  swift  to  deny  that 
aiconog   has   any  reference    to    duration.      Others   have 
labored  to  show  that  the  word  signifies  "  endless,"  "  for 
ever."     By  far  the  better  class  of  scholars  concede  "  that 
the  adjective  aianog,  neither  by  itself,  nor  by  what  it  de- 
rives from  its  noun,  ul(6v,  gives  any  testimony  to  the  end- 
lessness of  future  punishment."     The  most  that  can  be 
said  is,  that  the  punishment  belongs  to,  or  takes  place  in, 
the  aeon,  or  the  aeons,  to  come,  —  not  in  the  eternity,  or 
the  eternities  (which  would  be  very  incorrect)  to  come, 
but  in  the  age  or  ages  to  come.     Dr.  Tayler  Lewis,  in  his 
"Excursus  on  Ecclesiastes,"  i.  3,  in  Lange's  Commentary, 
takes  this  view,  and  to  him  we  refer  the  interested  reader. 
He  says  that  "  the  preacher,  in  contending  with  the  Uni- 
versalist,  or  Restorationist,  would  commit  an  error,  and,  it 
may  be,  suffer  failure  in  his  argument,  should  he  lay  the 
whole  stress  of  it  on  the  etymological,  or  historical  signi- 
ficance of  the  words  aiaVj  uiconov,  and  attempt  to  prove 


ETERNAL  LIFE.  189 


that,  of  themselves,  they  carry  the  meaning  of  endless 
duration."  In  allusion  to  Matt.  xxv.  46,  he  says  :  "  There 
comes  at  last  the  end.  Sentence  is  pronounced.  The 
condemned  go  away  zlg  xoXaaiv  alcanov,  the  righteous 
^lg  ^oitjv  aicoviov.  Both  states  are  expressed  in  language 
precisely  parallel,  and  so  presented  that  we  cannot  exeget- 
ically  make  any  difference  in  the  force  and  extent  of  the 
terms,  ^icoviog,  from  its  adjective  form,  may  perhaps 
mean  an  existence,  a  duration,  measured  by  aeons,  or 
worlds  (he  means  ^m^- worlds,  and  not  worlds  in  space), 
just  as  our  present  world,  or  aeon,  is  measured  by  years  or 
centuries.  But  it  would  be  more  in  accordance  with  the 
plainest  etymological  usage  to  give  it  simply  the  sense  of 
d/am  habba,  —  the  world  to  come.  These  shall  go  away 
into  the  punishment  (the  restraint,  imprisonment)  of  the 
world  to  come,  and  these  into  the  life  of  the  world  to  come. 
That  is  all  we  can  etymologically  make  of  the  word  in 
the  passage."  The  word  alxhv,  from  which  cdanog  derives 
all  the  meaning  it  has,  is  never  used  in  the  sense  of  end- 
less. In  the  Greek  philosophers,  in  the  Septuagint,  and 
in  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament,  it  always  means 
a  period  of  time.  The  fact,  too,  that  this  word  {aim') 
has  a  plural  ought  to  convince  us  that  eternity  is  no 
proper  translation  of  it,  for  how  could  we  speak  of  the  eter- 
nities ?  Besides,  the  Scriptures  use  the  phrase,  ovxog  6  aicov 
(this  age),  meaning  only,  as  our  translators  have  taught 
us,  "  this  world,"  this  age,  this  epoch.     It  surely,  then,  is 


1 90        THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

not  a  very  bold  thing  to  say  that  aicoviog  means,  and  must 
mean,  belonging  to  an  age  or  dispensation,  and  that  alw- 
rwg  xolaoig  (aeonian  punishment)  is  the  punishment  that 
takes  place  in  that  age  or  dispensation.  At  any  rate,  we 
are  not  obliged  to  put  the  common  idea  of  eternal  into 
this  pregnant  word.  To  us  the  New  Testament  teaches 
that,  as  the  good  go  into  that  spiritual  life  which  is  charac- 
teristic of  the  Christian  aeons,  so  the  bad  go  into  aeonian 
punishment,  or  that  punishment  which  marks  the  same 
aeons.  The  good  go  into  seonian,  spiritual  life,  because 
they  have  "  knowledge  "  of  God  and  of  Christ.  They  see 
God's  truth  and  God's  love,  and  are  conscious  of  that  in 
their  own  souls  which  is  in  harmony  with  that  truth  and 
love,  and  so  they  are  at  rest.  The  bad  see  the  truth  and  the 
love  of  God  and  their  own  evil  at  the  same  time,  and  so 
are  condemned.  They  suffer  the  aeonian  punishment,  the 
spiritual  death.  And  here  we  must  guard  against  putting 
any  meaning  into  the  aicovcog  xoXaatg  (eternal  punishment) 
which  the  words  themselves  will  not  bear.  The  primary 
meaning  of  the  word  which  Jesus  uses  {xolaGig) ,  and 
which  in  the  New  Testament  is  rendered  punishment,  is 
"to  prune."  In  this  first  use  of  the  word,  it  implies  that 
I^rocess  by  which  trees  are  treated,  that  they  may  grow 
more  vigorously,  and,  above  all,  bear  better  fruit.  In  its 
figurative  use,  as  applied  to  the  moral  life,  it  means  those 
methods  by  which  character  is  improved,  made  vigorous 
and  fruitful.     It  carries  the  meaning  of  correction,  dis- 


ETERNAL  LIFE. 


191 


cipline.  According  to  Aristotle,  when  the  Greeks  wanted 
to  point  out  the  "  kind  of  punishment  which  is  intended 
for  the  vindication  of  law  and  justice,"  they  used,  not 
'Aolaaig  (the  word  used  by  Christ),  but  another  word, 
TifAcoQia,  which  indicates  the  vindictive  character  of  pun- 
ishment. So  far,  then,  as  the  truth  hinges  upon  the  mean- 
ing of  a.  word,  the  use  of  which  by  the  Saviour  could  not 
have  been  accidental,  he  means  a  punishment  which  will 
result  in  the  sinner's  reformation.  The  wicked  are  judged 
by  Christ's  truth  and  Christ's  love,  and  are  thus  made  to 
see  what  and  where  they  are  ;  and  they  go  away  from  that 
invisible  bar  into  the  aicoviov  'Aolaaiv,  the  aeonian  punish- 
ment, to  suffer,  indeed,  we  know  not  what  hard,  long 
discipline,  but  to  suffer  that  they  may  be  saved ;  for  the 
severest  scourging  upon  impenitence  is  but  the  correction 
of  Christ's  loving  wrath. 

We  might  pause  here,  but  for  a  single  objection  which 
has  been  accented  in  the  current  controversy  on  this  sub- 
ject. It  is  urged,  with  apparent  conclusiveness,  that  since 
alconog  "  must  mean  as  much  for  the  wicked  as  for  the 
righteous,"  and  that  since  the  aeonian  life  means  endless 
life,  the  aeonian  punishment  must  mean  endless  punish- 
ment. To  this  we  reply,  that,  while  it  is  true  that  "  both 
states  are  expressed  in  language  precisely  parallel,  and  so 
presented  that  we  cannot  exegetically  make  any  difference 
in  the  force  and  extent  of  the  terms,"  it  is  by  no  means 
certain  that  "  aeonian  life  "  denotes  endless  Hfe.     The  idea 


192         THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 


of  duration  is  involved  in  the  Greek  adjective,  aicopiog,  but 
primarily  it  does  not  indicate  the  length  of  the  life,  but 
life  of  a  certain  kind.  The  severest  textual  criticism  will 
not  be  able  to  justify  the  "  quantitative  interpretation,"  to 
the  extent,  we  mean,  of  showing  that  the  phrase  seonian 
life  means  endless  life.  It  shows  rather  that  it  is  the  life 
which  belongs  to  the  aeon  or  aeons.  To  repeat  what  we 
have  elsewhere  set  down,  the  aeonian  life  is  the  life  which 
a  good  and  true  man  has.  "  He  that  believeth  on  the 
Son  hath  aeonian  life."  "  This  is  the  record,  that  God 
hath  giveft  unto  us  aeonian  life,  and  this  life  is  in  his  Son, 
He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life ;  and  he  that  hath  not  the 
Son  hath  not  life."  "  This  is  the  aeonian  life,  that  they 
may  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom 
Thou  hast  sent."  These  texts  refer  to  the  ki7idoi  life,  and 
not  to  the  duration  of  it ;  and  it  would  seem  that  the  per- 
petuity of  the  life  is  secondary  to  that  vitality  which  cha- 
racterizes it.  So  far,  then,  as  any  thing  is  to  be  inferred 
concerning  aeonian  punishment,  it  is  not  endless.  Pri- 
marily, it  is  the  punishment  which  belongs  to  the  aeon,  or 
aeons.  It  is  the  quality  of  the  punishment,  and  not  the 
quantity  of  it.  The  true  force  of  the  aeonian  punishment  is 
in  its  spirituality,  and  not  in  its  endlessness ;  and  the  soul 
that  is  "  eternally  "  separated  from  God  is  the  one  that  is 
inwardly  separated  from  Him,  and  so  from  blessedness  and 
bliss.  Moreover  it  would  be  difficult  to  show,  on  ethical 
grounds,  that  any  suffering  would  accompany  sin,  if  sin 


ETERNAL  LIFE.  193 


were  endless ;  for  such  suffering  is  possible  only  when  the 
soul  has  sight  of  some  good,  some  virtue,  which  it  desires. 
Guilt  could  never  occur  unless  the  soul  became  aware, 
conscious  of  a  truth,  a  good,  which  it  had  \vronged.     Con- 
tinuous sin  would   preclude    such   consciousness.     Con- 
sciousness of  sin,  however,  is  a  fact.     Always  when  a  soul 
sins,  it  knows  that  it  sins,  and  that,  too,  in  the  light  of 
what  is  opposite  to  sin.     The  sin,  then,  is  broken  in  upon, 
is  interrupted,  by  so  much  of  good  as  the  soul  sees  and 
knows,  and  in  knowledge  of  which  it  is  judged  and  con- 
demned.    Endless  sin,  therefore,  would  seem  to  be  im- 
possible to  a  moral  being ;  and  if  endless  sin  is  impossible 
to  such  a  being  as  man,  it  is  hard  to  see  on  what  grounds 
endless  suffering  is  to  be  justified.     The  only  idea  that  is 
admissible  is  the  one  which  the  New  Testament  teaches  : 
that  the  sinner  suffers  aeonian  punishment,  which  is  inward 
and  spiritual,  —  a  punishment  which  is  occasioned  by  the 
sight  of  the  good  which  judges  him.     The  suffering,  as  we 
believe,  is  a  means  to  an  end,  and  that  end  is  amendment 
leading  to  virtue ;  and  so  on  to  recovery.     This  is   the 
ultijnate  destiny  for  the  "righteous  "  and  the  "wicked," 
—  for  those  who  go  into  seonian  life,  and  for  those  who  go 
into  aeonian  punishment.     It  is  the  end  beyond  all  seons, 
and  beyond  all  aeons  of  aeons.     And  the  one  consumma- 
tion to  which  the  discipline  of  all  future  but  still  interme- 
diate ages  conducts  is  universal  redemption. 

13 


194        THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 


L 


IMMORTAL  LIFE. 

BY   A.   J.    PATTERSON,    D.D. 


IFE  is  the  cause  and  not  the  result  of  material  organ- 


ism. Particles  of  matter  do  not  combine  and  create 
life  by  spontaneous  generation.  A  life-principle  touches 
matter,  and  weaving  it  into  living  tissue,  clothes  itself  with 
material  form.  The  child  does  not  live  because  he  grows, 
he  grows  because  he  lives.  The  body  is  not  primal,  and 
the  spirit  incidental.  The  soul  is  the  real  entity,  and  the 
body  is  a  garment  which  the  soul  puts  on.  We  recognize 
this  truth  even  in  the  common  language  of  hfe.  We  say 
my  hand,  my  head,  my  body.  It  is  not  me  :  it  is  mine. 
No  member  of  my  body  is  me,  nor  are  all  the  members 
combined.  They  are  all  mine.  Now  who  am  I,  that 
possess  this  hand,  this  head,  this  body,  all  these  material 
members,  through  which  I  come  into  connection  with 
material  things  ?  I  am  a  living,  thinking,  hoping,  loving, 
and  aspiring  soul.  "  God  is  a  spirit,"  and  I  am  his  child. 
I  shall  lay  aside  these  earthly  implements  and  garments 
by  and  by.  But  the  change  will  not  be  death.  It  will 
rather  be  the  morning  dawn  of  real  life. 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  1 95 


But  how  can  man  live,  self-conscious  and  active,  with- 
out his  material  organs  ?  How  can  he  see  without  eyes, 
or  hear  without  ears,  or  think,  or  feel,  or  love,  when  brain 
and  heart  are  mouldering  in  the  grave  ?  The  answer  is 
not  difficult  to  find.  A  little  study  of  the  human  consti- 
tution reveals  the  fact  that  it  is  not  the  eye  that  sees,  nor 
the  ear  that  hears.  Delicately  constructed  as  are  these 
organs  of  sense,  they  have  no  power  of  their  own.  They 
are  only  windows  of  the  earthly  house,  through  which  the 
conscious  soul  within,  holds  converse  with  the  outer  world. 
If  it  can  see  so  much  of  beauty  and  hear  so  much  of 
melody  through  the  narrow  casement  of  its  prison,  shall 
it  not  have  clearer  vision  and  listen  to  diviner  songs  when 
its  prison  walls  are  broken  down,  and  it  stands  mth  un- 
veiled face  in  the  presence  of  the  excellent  glory  ? 

That  man's  conscious  selfhood  centres  in  his  spirit 
rather  than  his  body,  is  evident  in  the  changes  which  come 
to  the  body  during  life,  without  affecting  his  identity. 
The  man  of  gray  hairs  is  the  same  conscious  being  that  he 
was  in  childhood.  Tracing  his  way  step  by  step  along  the 
halls  of  memory,  he  finds  that  his  identity  remains  un- 
broken. His  body  has  changed  again  and  again,  in  form 
and  feature,  and  even  in  its  constituent  elements.  Not  a 
particle  of  matter  remains,  of  which  it  was  composed 
when  he  was  ten  years  old.  He  has  literally  put  off  one 
body  and  put  on  another  half  a  score  of  times.     But  he 


196        THE  LATEST   WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

has  not  lost  identity.  He  has  been  the  same  conscious 
soul  from  first  to  last.  If  the  soul,  without  shock,  or 
check,  or  loss  of  conscious  life,  may  pass  from  one  material 
body  to  another,  why  may  it  not,  with  equal  exemption 
from  harm,  pass  from  the  material  to  the  spiritual  body,  and 
enter  the  fair  realm  of  spiritual  existence  ? 

Once  more.  It  is  well  known  that  the  loss  of  a  hmb 
does  not  in  the  slightest  degree  maim  the  soul.  The  self- 
conscious  spirit  remains  in  its  integrity.  Only  the  material 
form  has  suffered  loss.  Remove  one  hmb  after  another, 
until  only  the  vital  part  remains,  and  the  man  is  still  a 
man.  His  vote  would  go  as  far  in  deciding  an  election 
as  that  of  his  more  fortunate  neighbor.  His  prayer  would 
be  just  as  acceptable  in  the  ear  of  Heaven.  His  powers 
of  will,  of  thought,  of  feehng,  of  veneration,  of  devotion, 
may  have  suffered  no  abatement.  He  never  felt  himself 
more  truly  a  citizen  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  an  im- 
mortal child  of  God.  Throw  off  the  little  that  remains  of 
that  wasted  body,  and  who  can  say  that  it  shall  reduce  by 
the  minutest  fraction  the  stature  of  the  soul. 

It  is  a  recognized  law  of  science,  that  nothing  which  is, 
can  absolutely  cease  to  be.  It  may  pass  through  numer- 
ous changes,  combinations,  modifications.  But  that  some- 
thing should  become  nothing,  is  impossible.  You  cannot 
reduce  to  nothing  a  grain  of  sand  or  a  drop  of  dew.  You 
may  grind  the  sand  to  powder,  and  scatter  it  to  the  four 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  197 


winds  of  heaven.  Still  it  is  something.  The  plant  or 
earth  may  drink  the  dew,  or  it  may  be  converted  into 
vapor  and  wafted  away  on  the  wing  of  a  cloud  ;  still  it  is 
something,  and  it  has  a  place  in  the  economy  of  things. 
By  a  law  of  the  mental  constitution,  it  is  not  possible  even 
to  conceive  of  its  destruction.  Much  less  can  you  for- 
mulate the  idea  of  your  o\vn  destruction.  Your  body  may 
undergo  great  changes.  It  may  be  burned  to  ashes,  or 
buried  in  the  earth  or  sea,  and  return  to  its  original  ele- 
ments. But  no  least  particle  of  it  is  lost.  It  is  carefully 
preserved  by  that  God,  who,  in  his  miserly  economy,  has 
made  nothing  for  destruction.  Your  soul  also  may  un- 
dergo great  changes.  The  limitations  of  thought  do  not 
necessitate  the  idea  of  its  existence  after  death  in  the 
same  mode  or  form  that  it  exists  to-day.  But  you  cannot 
conceive  of  its  absolute  destruction.  It  is  not  a  phenome- 
non, but  an  entity ;  not  a  dream  but  a  reality.  And  you 
can  think  of  no  change  through  which  it  may  pass,  in  the 
eternity  that  holds  you  in  its  arms,  in  which  you  will  not 
be  concerned,  and,  in  a  sense,  be  consciously  present  to 
behold.  Your  continued  existence  therefore  becomes  a 
necessity ;  for,  by  the  limitations  of  thought,  you  cannot 
conceive  of  its  absolute  end,  and  it  is  a  recognized  law  of 
metaphysics  that  what  cannot  be  thought  cannot  be  true. 
The  tenacity  Avith  which  we  cling  to  our  identity  affords 
another  cogent  argument  for  immortality.     There  is  not  a 


198    THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

man  in  the  world,  who,  if  the  thing  were  possible,  would 
drop  his  own  conscious  selfhood  and  assume  that  of  an- 
other. You  may  be  willing  to  change  places  with  another. 
You  may  covet  his  wealth  or  wisdom,  his  beauty  or  talent, 
his  honor  or  influence.  But  yo7i  would  occupy  his  place. 
You  would  change  places  with  him.  You  would  not  be  him. 
The  self-conscious  7?ie  must  go  with  you  everywhere. 
The  throne  of  God  himself  would  be  of  little  concern  to 
me,  if  /  were  never  to  see  its  glory.  Why  was  this  in- 
stinct planted  in  the  soul?  Was  it  to  tantalize  us  for  a 
little  while,  as  the  cat  or  tiger  toys  with  its  victim,  and 
then  blot  us  out  of  existence?  Is  not  this  clinging  to 
identity  a  prophecy  of  immortahty,  a  pledge  from  God 
himself  that  we  are  born  for  an  endless  life  ? 

And  why  "  this  pleasing  hope,  this  fond  desire,  this 
longing  after  immortality,"  if  we  are  limited  to  the  nar- 
row span  of  threescore  years  and  ten?  Philosophers 
tell  us  that  "  the  universe  is  governed  by  attractions,"  and 
that  "there  can  be  no  attraction  toward  nothing,"  but 
"  wherever  there  is  attraction,  there  is  and  must  be  an 
attracting  object."  They  also  tell  us  that  "  Correspond- 
ency is  a  law  of  the  universe,"  that  "  provision  has  been 
made  for  every  natural  want,"  and  that  legitimate  "  desire 
and  tendency  are  a  sure  index  of  destiny."  This  law  is 
abundantly  illustrated  in  the  natural  world.  The  house- 
plant  turns  its  leaves  and  grows  towards  the  window,  seek- 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  1 99 

ing  sunlight.  Sunlight  has  been  provided  to  reward  its 
quest.  The  vine  sends  out  its  claspers,  seeking  something 
to  which  it  may  cling.  Branches  extend  above  it  their 
strong  supporting  arms.  The  germinating  seed  sends 
a  root  downward,  seeking  moisture.  Moisture  has  been 
provided  to  nurture  its  life.  It  sends  the  blade  upward, 
seeking  air  and  sunlight.  Air  and  sunlight  are  found 
to  answer  its  demands.  The  migratory  bird  is  drawn 
by  a  strange  longing  toward  summer  lakes  and  fruit- 
ful fields,  far,  far  away.  It  does  not  make  its  journey 
over  sea  and  land  in  vain.  Man  is  hungry,  and  the  earth 
teems  with  abundance.  He  is  thirsty,  and  a  spring  is  at 
his  feet.  He  craves  companionship,  and  beautiful  beings 
are  all  about  him  to  share  his  love  and  to  return  their  own. 
There  is  no  natural  want,  instinct,  or  longing,  of  vegetable, 
animal,  or  man,  for  which  God  has  not  made  provision. 
Now  apply  the  analogy  to  the  subject  under  considera- 
tion. Man  does  desire  an  immortal  life.  There  is  no 
want  or  longing  that  is  more  natural  or  universal.  What 
is  the  legitimate  inference  ?  That  man  shall  live  for  ever. 
It  cannot  be  that  the  good  God,  who  has  balanced  want 
and  supply  throughout  his  universe,  so  carefully  that  there 
is  no  hunger  of  beast,  bird,  fish,  or  insect  which  cries  in 
vain,  will,  when  he  comes  to  man,  the  noblest  creature  of 
all,  impart  a  longing  that  is  never  satisfied,  and  that 
the  highest   and  holiest  longing  of  his  nature.     It  may 


200        THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

be  objected  that  there  are  wants  of  beast  and  nan 
that  cry  in  vain,  that  many  an  animal  dies  of  hunger, 
that  man  has  an  intense  desire  for  wealth,  or  fame,  or 
position,  that  is  never  realized.  It  is  not  claimed  that 
every  outcropping  of  desire  is,  on  the  instant,  answered. 
But  it  is  claimed  that  there  is  that  which  would,  if  it  could 
be  obtained,  answer  every  natural  desire.  Nor  is  it  claimed 
that  every  peculiar  form  of  want  which  man  can  know  is 
ever  to  be  satisfied.  In  our  present  perverted  con- 
dition, there  are  desires  that  are  not  natural  or  legiti- 
mate, that  ought  to  be  and  will  be  denied.  But  these  are 
not  fundamental  intuitions,  like  the  longing  for  immortal 
life.  They  spring  from  our  peculiar  surroundings,  and 
may  have  their  birth  and  death  with  them.  This  is  a 
natural  want  of  man,  found  under  all  conditions,  and 
hence  must  have  been  provided  for.  "  God  does  not 
create  a  desire  to  mock  it.  There  are  no  dissonances  in 
his  works.  The  constitutional  instincts  raise  no  false  ex- 
pectations. The  structure  of  the  human  constitution 
is  not  an  organized  lie."  ^  Emerson  has  uttered  no  sub- 
limer  sentiment  than  when  he  says,  "  Every  thing  is 
prophetic,  and  man  is  to  live  hereafter.  The  implanting 
of  a  desire  indicates  that  the  gratification  of  that  desire  is 
in  the  constitution  of  the  creature  that  feels  it.  The 
Creator  keeps  his  word  with  us.     All  I  have  seen  teaches 

1  Joseph  Cook. 


JMMOETAL    LIFE.  20I 

me  to  trust  the  Lord  for  all  I  have  not  seen."  ^  This  argu- 
ment is  old  as  Cato,  but  it  has  lost  none  of  its  force  by 
the  repetitions  of  the  ages. 

This  longing  for  immortal  life  is  not  a  thing  of  cultiva- 
tion merely.  It  is  found  in  all  nations  and  ages,  in  all 
grades  and  conditions  of  society.  The  polar  Indian  feels 
it  in  his  hut  of  snow.  The  rude  African  feels  it,  sit- 
ting beneath  his  palm.  The  philosopher  is  stirred  by  it 
in  his  profoundest  investigations.  Job  longed  for  a  sure 
answer  to  the  question,  "  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?  " 
The  believing  Christian  finds  his  sweetest  solace  in  the 
assurance,  "  He  is  not  here,  but  is  risen."  How  shall  we 
account  for  this  almost  universal  expectation,  except  it  be 
on  the  supposition  that  it  was  planted  in  the  soul  by  the 
God  who  made  the  soul.  It  is  a  prophecy  of  destiny 
\vritten  not  on  parchment  or  tables  of  stone,  but  on  the 
tables  of  the  heart.  "  As  the  insect  throws  out  its  antennae, 
and  by  their  s-ensitive  nerves,  finds  that  which  is  beyond  its 
sight,  so  man  throws  out  the  arms  of  intuition  and  aspi- 
ration, and  touches  that  which  is  behind  the  veil." 

This  prophetic  voice,  co-existent  almost  with  the  race, 
grows  clearer  and  more  distinct  under  the  influence  of 
cultivation.  What  was  only  a  faint  whisper  in  the  ruder 
ages  and  nations,  a  longing  which  did  not  ripen  into 
satisfying  faith,  beneath  the  light  of  Christian  cultivation 

1  Essay  on  Immortality. 


202    THE  LATEST    WORD   OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

and  scientific  investigation,  becomes  a  sonorous  assurance, 
a  sweet  and  satisfying  song  of  trust  and  peace  and  praise. 
The  wisest  and  best  men,  the  men  who  have  known  most 
of  nature  and  lived  nearest  God,  the  men  who  have  stood 
and  stand  as  beacon-Hghts,  to  show  the  succeeding  gener- 
ations how  to  honor  God  and  gain  the  highest  ends  of  life, 
are  men  who  have  shared,  in  largest  measure,  the  faith  of 
immortality. 

And  it  is  a  significant  fact,  that  this  faith  grows  brighter 
and  clearer  as  men  near  the  border-land  which  separates 
faith  and  sight.  Many  a  man  whose  faith  was  weak,  when 
the  pulses  of  life  were  high,  has  grown  into  it  more  and  more, 
as  the  life-tide  ebbed  away,  until,  like  Moses  from  Pisgah, 
he  could  see  the  "  sweet  fields  beyond  the  swelling  flood." 
Whatever  one's  doubts  or  speculations  may  have  been  in 
life,  it  is  rare  indeed  for  a  sane  man  to  confront  death 
without  beheving  in  a  life  to  come.  This  is  what  we 
should  expect  if  immortal  life  be  true.  But  if  death  were 
the  end,  and  immortality  a  dream,  we  should  expect  to 
see  men,  all  men,  start  back  appalled,  as  the  dream  van- 
ished, and  they  confronted  annihilation. 

Another  evidence  of  immortality  is  found  in  the  imper- 
fect state  of  man  on  earth.  We  do  not  refer  so  much  to 
the  millions  who  enter  life,  and  breathe  the  air  for  a  few 
days  or  months  and  pass  away,  —  little  children  that  begin 
to  unfold  their  possibilities,  and  are  plucked  before  their 


IMMORTAL    LIFE. 


203 


time ;  nor  to  the  millions  who^  living  to  mature  years,  die 
as  children  in  knowledge  ;  nor  to  the  millions,  even  more 
unfortunate,  who  are  dwarfed  and  wasted  by  sin,  —  though 
it  were  passing  strange  if  no  further  chance  were  given 
them  to  fulfil  the  purpose  of  their  creation.  We  refer  to 
all  men,  the  wisest  and  best,  as  well  as  the  weakest  and 
meanest  of  our  race.  God  gives  the  forest-tree  time  to 
mature.  It  grows  at  leisure,  and  fulfils  the  purpose  of  its 
life,  and  sinks  perhaps  into  slow  decay.  The  horse  is 
satisfied  with  a  comfortable  stall  and  well-filled  manger, 
or  an  abundant  pasture.  He  has  learned  as  much  when 
seven  years  old,  as  he  will  ever  know.  He  has  no  com- 
prehensive plans  for  the  welfare  of  his  kind  to  leave  unfin- 
ished, no  intricate  experiments  pursued  for  years  and 
years  in  the  quest  of  truth,  which,  if  he  dies  an  hour  too 
soon,  may  be  as  if  they  had  never  been.  He  has  no  un- 
answered longing  for  something  yet  to  be.  But  where  is 
the  man  who  can  say  that  his  work  is  finished,  that  his 
plans  are  consummated,  that  his  possibilities  are  fully  ripe  ? 
Newton,  when  dying,  felt  that  he  had  only  gathered,  as  it 
were,  a  few  pebbles  along  the  shore  of  an  illimitable  con- 
tinent, that  he  had  only  touched  the  surf  of  an  illimitable 
sea.  Such  is  the  experience  of  the  greatest  and  best  men 
who  have  lived  or  died.  If  the  philosopher  shall  never 
finish  the  investigations  from  which  he  was  summoned  by 
the  messenger  of  death ;  if  the  poet  shall  never  complete 


204        THE  LATEST   WORD    OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

the  song  that  was  cut  short  by  his  failing  breath ;  if  the 
artist  shall  never  realize  the  high  ideal  for  which  he  perhaps 
starved  in  a  dim  attic,  and  worked  on  until  he  fainted  at 
his  tasks,  and  died  with  fame  and  fortune  just  within  his 
reach ;  if  the  Christian  shall  never  meet  that  Saviour  in 
whose  name  he  marched  through  martyr  fires  ;  if  the  poor 
child  of  sin,  who  failed  in  the  stress  of  life,  though  longing 
for  holiness  with  most  intense  desire,  shall  never  stand 
clothed  in  white  among  the  ransomed  company,  —  then  law 
is  a  lie,  and  life  is  a  mockery,  and  man  is  the  one  stu- 
pendous failure  in  the  universe.  God  gave  this  higher 
ideal  than  we  can  attain  on  earth,  this  hunger  for  knowl- 
edge, this  longing  for  perfection.  As  God  is  God  and 
cannot  act  a  lie,  he  must  grant  us  some  sphere  in  which 
to  grow  unto  perfection,  and  gain  the  stature  of  men  in 
Christ. 

Turning  now  to  the  later  Revelation  we  find  abundant 
confirmation  of  these  voices  of  the  human  soul.  Though 
the  truth  of  immortality  is  not  clearly  proclaimed  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures,  there  are  intimations  of  it,  foregleams 
shining  in  the  lines  and  between  the  lines  of  patriarchs 
and  prophets.  The  hope  of  the  Shunammite  mother  must 
have  been  more  than  mere  longing  for  life  beyond  death, 
when,  to  the  prophet's  question,  "  Is  it  well  with  thee,  is  it 
well  with  thy  husband,  is  it  well  with  the  child?"  she 
answered,  "It  is  well."     The  same  dawning  faith  appears 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  205 


in  the  questions  which  welled  spontaneously  from  the  bur- 
dened heart  of  Job,  "  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again?  " 
"  There  is  hope  of  a  tree  if  it  be  cut  down  that  it  will  sprout 
again,  and  that  the  tender  branch  thereof  will  not  cease, 
but  man  dieth  and  wasteth  away,  yea,  man  giveth  up  the 
ghost,  and  where  is  he  ?  "  "  Shall  he  live  again  ?  "  "  Where 
is  he?"  Not  quite  sure,  yet  clinging  to  the  hope  that 
there  is  life  beyond  the  grave.  David  shows  that  he  had 
something  more  than  a  dream  of  future  existence,  when, 
bending  over  the  fonn  of  his  dead  child,  he  exclaimed 
"  I  shall  go  to  him,  but  he  shall  not  return  to  me."  The 
Preacher  uttered  a  philosophy  worthy  of  any  age,  when  he 
said,  "  The  dust  shall  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was,  and  the 
spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it." 

But  though  these  early  servants  of  God  had  foregleams, 
they  were  only  foregleams  of  Immortality.  The  full  reve- 
lation was  reserved  for  Him  who  is  greater  than  Moses,  or 
David,  or  the  Prophets.  Christ  brought  "  Life  and  Im- 
mortality to  light."  He  taught  in  unmistakable  language 
that  only  the  body  dies.  To  the  disciples,  hunted  from 
city  to  city  by  cruel  persecution,  he  said,  "  Fear  not  them 
that  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul."  To 
the  Sadducees  who  denied  a  future  life,  he  said,  "  In  the 
Resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage, 
but  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven."  And  "  that  the 
dead  are  raised,  even  Moses  showed  at  the  bush,  when  he 


206         THE  LATEST    WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

called  the  Lord  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 
and  the  God  of  Jacob.  God  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but 
of  the  living,  for  all  men  live  unto  him."  These  patri- 
archs had  slept  for  generations,  in  the  grave  at  Machpelah, 
and  yet  as  Jesus  saw  them  they  were  still  alive.  This  truth 
was  made  more  plain  to  the  disciples,  by  the  visible  ap- 
pearance of  Moses  and  Elias  on  the  Mount  of  Transfigu- 
ration. Christ  also  told  them  of  his  own  approaching 
death,  and  of  the  resurrection  that  should  follow,  and 
gave  them  the  comforting  assurance,  "  I  go  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you,  and  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I 
will  come  again  and  receive  you  unto  myself,  that  where 
I  am  there  ye  may  be  also."  ''  And  I,  if  I  be  Hfted  up  from 
the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  These  are  wonder- 
ful words,  words  which  brought  the  immortal  life  to  the 
comprehension  of  men  more  clearly  than  any  that  had 
ever  been  spoken  before.  But  words  were  not  enough. 
They  may  be  misapprehended.  They  were  to  the  disciples 
like  idle  tales.  Christ  would  be  a  perfect  revelation  of 
immortality.  The  truth  he  taught  he  would  illustrate 
before  their  eyes.  Hence  he  welcomed  the  pains  of 
tlie  cross.  He  was  laid  in  the  tomb.  Its  door  was 
closed  and  sealed  and  guarded.  His  enemies  would 
stamp  with  falsehood  his  words,  "  Destroy  this  temple,  and 
in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up."  They  would  make  it 
plain  to  all  the  world  that  he  could  not  and  did  not  rise. 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  20  7 


But  there  were  watchers  at  that  tomb  more  powerful  than 
the  soldiers.  Keeping  faithful  guard  were  two  angels, 
appointed  by  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Man 
had  groped  in  darkness  through  the  long  night  of  the  ages. 
The  hour  had  come  for  the  day-star  to  arise.  That  star 
arose  never  to  know  a  setting,  when  the  women  came  to 
the  sepulchre,  and  found  the  stone  rolled  away,  and  heard 
the  angel  say,  "  He  is  not  here,  but  is  risen."  From  that 
glad  hour  the  disciples  were  new  men.  Timid  and  vacil- 
lating before,  they  were  now  brave  as  lions.  Confident  of 
immortal  life  as  they  were  of  their  own  existence,  they 
went  forth  preaching  Jesus  and  the  Resurrection.  "  Be- 
cause I  live,  ye  shall  live  also,"  was  their  constant  assur- 
ance, their  perpetual  inspiration.  In  this  hope,  they  planted 
churches.  In  this  hope,  they  confronted  persecution.  In 
this  hope,  they  sung  paeans  even  in  the  midst  of  martyr- 
dom :  for  they  had  learned  that  it  is  "  better  to  depart  and 
be  with  Christ ;  "  that  "  If  our  earthly  tent  habitatioti  were 
dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 

Having  established  the  truth  of  an  immortal  life,  by 
an  appeal  to  the  nature  of  man  and  the  voice  of  inspira- 
tion, let  us  now  see  what  light  we  can  gain  concerning  the 
modes  and  conditions  of  our  life  beyond  the  grave. 

The  question  which  confronted  the  Apostle  is  pertinent 
to-day :   "  How  are  the  dead  raised  up,  and  with  what 


208         THE  LATEST    WORD  OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

body  do  they  come?"  Will  it  be  a  resurrection  of  the 
identical  material  body  ?  No,  the  body  of  flesh  and  blood 
is  not  to  enter  the  immortal  state.  None  of  us  who  have 
felt  the  pains,  experienced  the  accidents  and  battled  with 
the  want  and  weakness  which  inhere  in  the  earthly  body, 
would  care  to  take  it  up  again,  after  we  have  laid  it  down. 
It  serves  a  wise  and  useful  purpose  in  this  rudimental 
state  ;  but  it  is  not  adapted  to  the  needs  of  an  endless  life. 
Paul  makes  the  question  of  the  resurrection-body  very 
plain.  He  says,  "  That  which  thou  sowest  is  not  quick- 
ened except  it  die ;  and  that  which  thou  sowest  is  not  the 
body  that  shall  be,  but  bare  grain,  it  may  chance  of  wheat 
or  of  some  other  grain.  But  God  giveth  it  a  body  as  it 
hath  pleased  him,  and  to  every  seed  his  own  body.  So 
also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  It  is  sown  in  corrup- 
tion, it  is  raised  in  incorruption ;  it  is  sown  in  dishonor, 
it  is  raised  in  glory ;  it  is  sown  in  weakness,  it  is  raised  in 
power ;  it  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual 
body."  When  we  plant  a  grain  of  corn,  we  do  not  expect 
to  see  the  identical  kernel  rise.  We  know  that  under  the 
chemical  influence  of  sun  and  shower,  the  grosser  material  of 
which  it  is  composed  will  be  dissolved  and  drop  away.  But 
we  also  know  that  it  contains  a  germ,  an  elemental  principle 
of  life,  which  is  quickened  by  the  very  elements  that  de- 
stroy the  grosser  material,  and  which  springs  up  a  more 
beautiful  form,  a  more  vigorous  and  glorious  Hfe.     Within 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  2  09 


that  kernel  of  corn,  in  embryo,  are  "  the  blade,  the  ear, 
the  full  corn  in  the  ear."  Place  it  under  the  microscope, 
and  we  see  them  there  complete  in  all  their  parts,  only 
waiting  the  vivifying  touch  of  chemical  affinities,  to  burst 
the  shell,  and  spring  into  the  hght  an  expanded  hfe.  Is 
it  not  so  with  man  ?  Take  the  magnifying  lens  of  Reve- 
lation, and  look  through  it  into  the  depths  of  a  human 
soul.  What  dost  thou  behold  ?  An  embryo  angel,  wait- 
ing the  breath  of  God  that  shall  give  it  life  and  cause  the 
grosser  form  to  drop  away.  The  material  form  shall  not 
rise  in  the  resurrection.  "  The  body  shall  return  to  the 
dust  as  it  was."  A  more  glorious  spiritual  body  shall  rise. 
"There  is  a  natural  body,  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body." 
And  the  spiritual  body  is,  in  some  mysterious  way,  con- 
tained in  these  forms  of  flesh  and  blood,  even  as  the  oak 
is  contained  in  the  acorn-shell.  The  spiritual  is  not  some- 
thing apart  from  the  material  body,  which  the  soul  puts  on 
as  a  garment.  It  springs  from  it,  and  is  perhaps  fed  by  it, 
as  the  plant  springs  from  the  seed. 

This  is  indeed  a  mystery.  So  is  vegetable  hfe  a  mys- 
tery. We  cannot  explain,  nor  even  understand,  how  the 
tree  compacts  its  fibre,  and  the  flower  puts  on  its  delicate 
hue,  any  more  than  we  can  tell  how  the  spiritual  body  rises 
unseen  and  yet  real,  when  the  fleshly  body  drops  away. 

But  while  mysterious,  it  is  not  impossible  nor  unreason- 
able.    If  we  study  human  nature  with  a  little  care,  we  find 

14 


2IO        THE  LATEST    WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

it  easy  to  believe.  If  we  study  nature  with  a  little  care, 
our  faith  gains  confirmation.  Suppose  that  we  had  never 
seen  an  tgg,  and  knew  nothing  of  the  life  which  it  con- 
tains, would  we  not  as  soon  expect  to  see  life  issue  from 
a  stone,  and  soar  and  sing,  as  from  its  little  shell.  And  yet 
experience  reveals  the  truth,  that  the  tgg  contains  a  bird 
in  embryo. 

A  loathsome  worm  grovels  in  the  dust  beneath  our  feet. 
We  see  in  it  no  present  or  prospective  beauty.  But  within 
that  vile  form,  God  can  see  the  butterfly,  that  is  yet  to  flit 
on  wings  of  purple  and  gold,  from  flower  to  flower,  and 
sip  the  choicest  nectar.  "Who  shall  change  our  vile 
body,  and  fashion  it  like  unto  his  own  glorious  body." 

It  is  only  the  outer  covering  that  we  behold.  The  eye 
does  not  take  in  a  tithe  of  the  marvels  that  are  contained 
in  these  temples  of  the  spirit.  Man  has  many  bodies. 
He  has  a  body  of  bones  mysteriously  joined  together. 
Then  he  has  a  body  of  sinews,  muscles,  and  flesh,  cover- 
ing the  bones,  folding  them  in,  holding  each  in  its  place, 
and  giving  him  the  form  of  symmetry  which  we  so  much 
admire.  Then  he  has  a  body  of  veins  and  arteries,  inter- 
lacing and  winding  their  way  to  every  part  of  the  complex 
system.  Then  he  has  a  body  of  nerves  of  sensation,  so 
subtle  and  ethereal  that  you  can  hardly  tell  whether  it  is 
matter  or  spirit  sending  its  threads  to  the  remotest  fibres 
of  the  intricate  economy.     Each  of  these  bodies  is  so  per- 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  211 

feet  that  if  it  stood  by  itself,  separated  from  all  the  rest, 
but  its  several  parts  in  their  right  relations  to  each  other, 
you  would  not  only  recognize  it  as  a  human  body,  but 
could  almost  trace  the  features  of  the  man  to  whom  it  be- 
longed. Then  the  scientist  tells  us  that  there  is  a  body  of 
bioplasm  weaving  the  nerves  and  other  tissues.  And,  back 
of  all,  is  the  life-force  or  principle  that  touches  bioplasm 
and  gives  it  life.  But  we  need  go  no  farther  than  the 
nerve-system,  with  which  all  are  familiar,  for  our  purpose 
of  illustration.  If  we  prick  our  finger  with  the  finest 
needle,  a  nerve,  subtle,  unseen,  ethereal,  at  once  reports 
to  the  brain  that  the  finger  is  in  danger.  The  brain  issues 
its  command  to  the  muscular  system.  Its  forces  are  called 
into  quick  action,  and  the  finger  is  taken  out  of  harm's 
way.  We  see  a  glad  and  gleeful  child  approaching,  and 
our  hearts  meet  it  with  a  thrill  of  joy.  Or  that  child  is  in 
a  place  of  exceeding  peril,  and  our  hearts  stop  beating  in 
their  agony.  We  hear  a  voice  of  satisfaction,  and  our  soul 
takes  up  the  song.  We  hear  a  wail  of  sorrow,  and  our 
eyes  are  moist  with  tears.  Imagine  another  body,  running 
through  this  complex  system,  as  much  more  ethereal  than 
the  nerve  system,  as  that  is  than  the  body  of  flesh  or  of 
bones,  and  how  easy  it  is  to  imagine  this  body,  finer  than 
bioplasm,  fine  as  the  life-force  that  moves  the  bioplasm, 
clothing  the  soul,  constituting  the  texture  and  substance 
of  its  being,  in  the  fair  realm  where  spirit  reigns. 


212         THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

Indeed,  if  the  nerve-system  which  conveys  physical 
impressions  is  so  delicately  strung  that  it  seems  almost 
spiritual,  what  shall  we  say  of  that  finer  medium  of  thought 
and  affection,  of  hope  and  of  memory.  We  see  a  lovely 
object,  and  our  affection  kindles  at  once  toward  it.  What 
is  the  electric  wire  connecting  the  eye  and  the  seat  of 
affectional  Hfe  ?  We  hear  a  reasonable  request  in  gentle 
tones  conveyed,  and  we  run  with  glad  alacrity  to  fulfil  it. 
We  hear  a  stern  unreasonable  command,  and  are  in 
rebellion  in  a  moment.  Now  what  is  this  channel  of 
communication  between  the  outer  and  the  inner  man? 
We  know  that  there  is  such  a  medium,  and  it  sends  its 
complex  threads  into  every  department  of  our  being. 
But  precisely  what  it  is,  who  can  tell  ?  We  remember  a 
face  or  voice  of  long  ago,  and  our  heart  thrills  like  the 
strings  of  a  harp  swept  by  the  fingers  of  David.  Or  we 
catch  through  the  shadows  of  the  future  a  glimpse  of 
good  or  ill  to  come,  and  we  are  filled  with  joy  or  pain. 
What  is  this  medium  of  memory  and  of  hope  connecting 
us  so  closely  with  the  departed  days  or  the  coming  years  ? 
Can  the  eye  see  it?  Can  the  hand  clasp  it?  Can  sci- 
ence explain  it  ?  And  yet  it  is  as  real  as  any  material 
thing.  Who  shall  say  that  these  transparent,  intangible, 
incomprehensible  channels  of  thought  and  feeling,  of 
hope  and  memory,  are  not,  so  to  speak,  the  feet  and 
hands,  the   eyes   and   ears,  the   head   and  heart  of  our 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  21$ 


Spiritual  body.  They  are  pent  up  now  in  this  material 
form.  They  are  only  the  germ  of  what  they  are  to  be. 
Hence  affection  is  cold  and  reverence  is  feeble.  Hence 
memory  fails  and  hope  is  dim.  But  when  they  burst 
these  bonds  of  clay  and  put  on  perfect  life  ;  when  the 
germ  becomes  a  tree,  and  the  egg  is  transformed  into  a 
bird  of  paradise,  how  clear  wiU  the  vision  be,  how  true 
and  pure  its  loves,  how  satisfying  and  enduring  its  joys  ! 

Another  question  which  perplexes  many  minds  is  that 
of  identity.  Shall  we  retain  our  conscious  personality  in 
the  immortal  state  ?  If  we  are  to  live  hereafter  at  all,  we 
must  retain  our  conscious  identity.  If  I  lose  all  memory 
of  what  I  am  and  what  my  surroundings  are,  if  none  of 
the  peculiarities  which  distinguish  me  now  continue,  and 
there  is  no  connecting  tie  between  the  present  and  the 
future,  there  is  for  me  no  immortal  life.  Unless  this  con- 
scious being  that  I  am  shall  live  beyond  the  river,  and 
live  for  ever,  the  thought  of  immortality  is  of  no  personal 
worth  to  me.  Though  another  being  should  be  created 
from  my  sleeping  dust,  if  I  lose  my  conscious  life  with 
•the  expiring  breath,  then  this  life  is  all  there  is  for  me. 
But  I  am  not  confined  to  such  narrow  spheres.  Paul 
knew  the  nature  of  man  and  the  destiny  which  awaits  him, 
when  he  compared  the  body  to  a  moving  tent,  and  gave 
the  assurance  that  "  If  our  earthly  tent-habitation  were 
dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  an  house  not  made 


214    THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."  This  figure  is  very- 
significant.  We  are  living  now  in  a  tent,  a  movable,  a 
temporary  habitation.  We  are  to  have  a  building,  a 
house,  an  eternal  abode.  One  suggests  firailty  and  lack 
of  perpetuity  j  the  other,  strength,  solidity,  endurance. 
If  we  move  from  one  house  to  another,  we  do  not  lose 
identity.  We  are  the  same  conscious  soul  in  the  palace 
that  we  were  in  the  tent  or  hovel,  in  the  new  house  that 
we  were  in  the  old.  Neither  shall  we  lose  our  conscious 
selfhood  in  passing  from  the  earthly  to  the  heavenly- 
house.  The  change  is  not  in  ourselves  so  much  as  in 
our  surroundings.  The  entire  life  of  the  soul  is  one,  in 
this  world  and  in  the  world  to  come.  If  there  seem  to 
be  two  distinct  lives,  it  is  because  we  see  inadequately, 
—  see  as  "through  a  glass  darkly."  When  our  eyes 
are  opened,  and  we  "see  as  we  are  seen,"  we  shall  find 
that  souls  on  earth  and  spirits  in  heaven  form  but  one 
family  of  God,  that  these  are  only  different  apartments 
in  the  house  of  many  mansions. 

If  this  be  true,  the  answer  of  the  question  becomes 
natural  and  easy,  "  Are  our  departed  friends  still  cognizant 
of  our  condition  and  interested  in  our  welfare?"  The 
veil  is  doubtless  very  thin  which  separates  us  from  the 
departed.  We  see  them  no  longer,  because  material 
eyes  cannot  take  in  spiritual  realities.  But  they  may  be 
near  us,  their  spirit-hands  may  rest  upon,  us,  their  love 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  2 1 5 

and  sympathy  may  be  as  tender  and  as  true  as  when  they 
walked  by  our  side.  Ai-e  there  not  times  in  our  experi- 
ence when  it  seems  as  if  we  have  ahiiost  held  actual 
communion  with  the  dead  ?  —  when  in  form  and  feature, 
in  voice  and  accent,  they  come  before  us  so  distinctly, 
that  for  days  it  almost  seems  as  if  we  had  enjoyed  a 
visitation  from  these  friends  ?  I  thank  God  that  it  is  so 
with  me.  My  beloved  are  not  lost  or  dead.  They  sit  with 
me  in  my  home.  They  meet  me  at  the  altar  of  prayer. 
They  help  me  in  my  weakness.  They  cheer  me  in  my 
despondency.  They  comfort  me  when  I  am  troubled. 
They  help  me  in  many  ways  to  gain  the  victory  over  the 
world.  They  win  and  lead  me  up  and  on  toward  heaven. 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  they  come  in  a  form  that  I 
can  see,  or  that  they  present  a  hand  that  I  can  clasp. 
Such  a  conception  of  spirit  intercourse  were  gross  and 
quite  unsatisfying.  But  I  am  conscious  of  communion 
with  invisible  spirits.  And  why  should  it  not  be  so  ?  All 
Christians  believe  in  the  spiritual  presence  of  the  Saviour. 
Eighteen  hundred  years  ago  he  ascended  to  his  Father 
and  our  Father,  since  which  time  no  mortal  eye  has  seen 
the  head  that  was  cro^vned  with  thorns,  or  the  hands 
that  were  pierced  by  the  nails.  Paul  indeed  tells  us  that 
he  had  seen  the  Lord ;  but  he  saw,  doubtless,  not  with 
natural  vision,  but  by  a  kind  of  second  sight.  And  yet, 
though  he  come  not  to  us  in  any  form  that  we  can  see,  we 


2l6    THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

believe  that  he  fulfils  the  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  And  if  Christ  may  thus 
come  and  help  and  bless  us,  may  we  not  beheve  that  our 
own  beloved  ones,  who  walked  with  us  these  earthly  ways, 
and  shared  life's  good  and  ill,  may,  in  a  similar  sense, 
attend  us  as  our  helpers  and  our  friends  ?  There  is  no 
room  for  Christians  to  doubt,  when  we  remember  the 
words  of  the  Apostle,  "  Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits, 
sent  to  minister  unto  those  who  shall  be  the  heirs  of 
salvation?" 

It  may  be  objected  that  such  connection  between  the 
living  and  the  dead  would  destroy  the  peace  of  heaven ; 
that  the  departed  ones  could  not  see  the  sin  and  suffer- 
ing that  are  in  the  world,  without  being  weighed  down 
by  perpetual  sorrow.  But  do  they  not  know,  even  if 
they  could  not  see,  that  it  is  a  world  of  sorrow,  sin,  and 
suffering  ?  Have  they  not  lived  in  it  and  experienced  its 
pains  ?  And  would  it  be  a  source  of  relief  to  them  to  be 
entirely  cut  off  from  all  knowledge  of  the  friends  whom 
they  have  left  behind?  If  you  have  removed  from  an 
old  home,  leaving  aged  parents  or  im^alid  sisters  behind 
you,  do  you  desire  to  suspend  all  intercourse  with  them 
lest  you  should  hear  that  they  are  suffering?  If  there  is 
sickness,  or  sorrow,  or  even  sin  in  that  home,  do  you  not 
want  to  know  the  worst,  that  you  may  lend  a  hand,  if 
possible,  to  help  and  save  ?     Are  our  dear  ones  who  have 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  217 


passed  on  from  death  to  life  less  interested  in  us  who  are 
still  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  ? 

Again,  no  one  believes  that  God  is  ignorant  of  the  sin 
and  sorrow  that  burden  our  race.  Nor  does  anybody 
suppose  that  God  is  really  miserable.  Now,  how  can 
God,  with  his  great  father-heart,  look  do\vn  and  see  his 
children  struggling  in  poverty,  wasting  themselves  in  sin, 
bearing  the  heavy  crosses  of  sickness  and  bereavement 
which  so  weigh  down  our  hves,  without  becoming  the 
most  unhappy  being  in  the  universe?  Simply  because 
God  can  take  in  all  conditions  and  relations,  causes  and 
results.  He  foresees  the  end  of  these  human  ills.  He 
knows  that  "  these  Hght  afflictions  which  are  but  for  a 
moment,  shall  work  out  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory."  It  may  be  so  with  our  trans- 
lated ones  as  they  look  down  from  heaven.  Their 
vision  may  be  so  enlarged,  that  they  can  comprehend 
God's  gracious  plan,  and  so  see  harmony  where  we  see 
only  conflict  and  confusion.  Then  they  must  know 
that  these  "afflictions  are  but  for  a  moment."  And 
while  they  give  us  sympathy  in  the  hard  struggle  by 
which  we  cUmb  the  rugged  way  of  life,  they  rejoice ;  for 
they  see  that  the  race  is  almost  ended,  that  but  a  little 
way  before  us  is  the  home  of  everlasting  peace  and  rest. 

These  reflections  bring  us  to  an  easy  answer  of  that 
other  question  which,  rising  from  the  heart,  trembles  upon 


2i8    THE  LATEST   WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

the  lips  of  so  many  bereaved  ones,  ''  Shall  we  know  our 
friends  hereafter?"  If  we  retain  our  identity,  and  there 
is  an  intimate  connection  between  the  present  and  the 
future,  recognition  follows  as  a  natural  consequence. 
Our  separation  is  only  for  a  little  while.  The  longest  life 
on  earth  is  but  a  day  with  God  and  those  who  dwell  with 
him.  We  may  have  intuitions  or  instincts  adapted  to 
our  higher  state  by  which  we  shall  find  our  own.  But  if 
this  shall  not  be,  and  if  with  the  lapse  of  time  we  might 
forget  them,  they  will  never  forget  us.  They  are  con- 
stantly watching  over  us,  and  will  come  to  meet  us  when 
we  cross  the  river  to  the  bright  immortal  shore.  Recog- 
nition and  reunion  are  indispensable  to  a  perfect  heaven. 
God  has  joined  us  to  our  fellow-men  by  tender,  social, 
and  kindred  ties.  Much  of  our  purest  joy,  many  of  our 
holiest  interests,  are  associated  with  our  friends.  They 
are  intimately  linked  with  all  our  memories  and  hopes. 
If  we  retain  our  identity,  these  memories  will  extend  into 
the  future  life.  Unless  we  lose  all  that  is  purest  and  best 
within  us,  these  loves  and  interests  will  continue  there. 
We  desire  the  companionship  of  our  beloved  now.  We 
shall  want  their  presence  and  fellowship  always.  Unless 
we  meet  them  in  the  home  of  the  soul,  though  its  walls 
were  of  jasper,  its  gates  pearl,  its  streets  gold,  and  its 
temple  of  light,  it  will  be  no  real  home.  We  shall  be 
for  ever  longing,  pining,  seeking  for  the  loved  and  lost. 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  219 


Shall  all  be  equal  as  they  enter  upon  the  life  that  is  to 
be?  Or  shall  there  be  different  degrees  of  attainment 
and  of  happiness  there  as  here?  Evidently  the  latter. 
We  take  with  us  such  acquisitions  only  as  we  have  gained. 
We  begin  Hfe  on  the  other  shore  with  the  same  spiritual 
stature  that  we  leave  it  here.  If  we  have  wisely  improved 
the  school  of  time,  we  are  well  fitted  to  enter  the  school 
of  eternity.  If  we  have  squandered  our  opportunities, 
we  must  take  our  place  at  the  foot  of  the  class.  If  we 
have  kept  God's  law,  and  lived  in  fellowship  with  our 
Saviour,  we  enter  that  world  as  "men  in  Christ."  If  we 
have  put  God  and  Christ  away  from  heart  and  mind,  we 
must  begin  as  little  children.  "There  is  one  glory  of 
the  sun,  and  another  glory  of  the  moon,  and  another 
glory  of  the  stars,  and  one  star  differeth  from  another 
star  in  glory.  So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead." 
Death  rids  us  of  many  hindrances,  but  it  adds  nothing 
to  our  spirit's  stature.  We  are  saved  by  the  truth  and 
grace  of  Christ  received  into  the  willing  soul,  not  by  the 
archer's  spear  or  the  sepulchre's  mould.  But  each  soul 
is  given  standing-room,  and  a  chance  for  improvement  on 
the  shore  of  eternity.  Each  soul  is  still  a  child  of  God, 
and  a  pupil  in  the  school  of  Christ.  Each  soul  has  the 
goal  of  .perfection  before  him,  and  the  voice  of  God  still 
calling  him  to  so  run  as  to  attain.  We  shall  be  aided 
and  encouraged  by  those  who  are  in  advance  of  us,  while 


2  20    THE  LATEST    WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

we  in  turn  shall  lend  a  hand  of  help  to  such  as  are 
beneath  us,  and  as  mutual  helpers  we  shall  rise  from 
strength  to  strength,  from  glory  to  glory,  and  our  voices 
shall  blend  in  the  joy  song  of  redemption. 

Arctic  explorers  tell  us  that  in  the  cheerless  polar  regions 
there  is  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  nature,  during  the  brief 
summer,  to  put  on  verdure  and  bloom.  On  the  sunny 
side  of  the  iceberg,  where  the  earth  appears,  cedars  and 
willows  spring  up  and  try  to  grow.  But  the  summer  is 
so  short,  and  the  winter  so  severe  and  long,  that  they 
never  attain  a  growth  of  more  than  six  inches  high.  A 
whole  forest  of  them  can  be  covered  by  the  palm  of  the 
hand.  To  become  trees  in  that  land  of  ice  and  snow  is 
impossible,  although  it  is  in  their  nature  to  grow  unto 
gigantic  proportions.  Transplant  one  of  those  cedars  to 
the  deeper  soil  of  the  temperate  zone,  and  note  the 
change.  It  has  the  same  nature  and  begins  here  with 
the  same  stature.  But  its  surroundings  are  more  favor- 
able. It  strikes  its  roots  into  the  fertile  earth.  It  Hfts 
its  trunk  and  branches  into  the  warm  air  and  sunlight. 
It  drinks  the  dew  and  rain,  and  grows  from  year  to  year, 
until  at  length  it  stands  a  monarch  of  the  hill. 

Man  is  not  unlike  the  cedar  beneath  the  iceberg.  It 
is  but  little  growth  which  any  soul  attains  in  this  winter- 
world.  Some  of  our  race,  the  Pauls  and  the  Newtons, 
become  perhaps  six  inches  high ;  the  great  majority  of 


IMMORTAL    LIFE.  221 

men  only  break  ground  on  this  earthly  shore.  But  there  is 
a  deathless  principle  of  life  and  growth  in  every  soul.  All 
are  transplanted  to  the  summer-land  of  immortality. 
And  there,  in  the  sunshine  of  an  infinite  love,  and  be- 
neath the  showers  of  an  infinite  mercy,  we  shall  grow  in 
grace  and  knowledge,  and  fulfil  the  purpose  of  our  crea- 
tion, and  stand  at  last,  exalted,  crowned,  and  honored, 
as  immortal  sons  of  God. 


22  2         THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 


UNIVERSALISM    (SCRIPTURE). 

BY   A.  St.  JOHN   CHAMBRE,  D.D. 

A  S  no  alleged  revelation  of  Holy  Scripture  is  to  be 
established  by  isolated  passages,  or  any  mere  collo- 
cation of  texts,  it  is  not  claimed  that  those  presently  to 
be  examined  demonstrate,  apart  from  all  other  considera- 
tions, the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation.  The  Biblical 
teaching  upon  the  great  subject  of  human  destiny  is  to  be 
gathered  from  the  scope  and  drift  of  Holy  Scripture,  and 
from  the  revelation  which  it  makes  of  the  character  of 
God,  and  of  the  relations  which  exist  between  God  and 
men.  There  must  be  noted  the  declared  purpose  of  God 
in  creation,  especially  the  Creation  of  humanity,  the  nat- 
ure of  humanity,  the  fact  and  possibilities  of  sin,  and  the 
object  and  progressive  unfolding  of  the  mission  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Other  chapters  of  this  book  will,  no 
doubt,  bring  all  this,  more  or  less  fully,  to  the  attention  of 
the  reader. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  desirable,  and  quite  important,  to  dis- 
cover what  textual  basis  there  may  be  in  the  sacred  writ- 
ings for  the  doctrine  of  the  final  salvation  of  all  men.     It 


UNIVERSALISM.  223 


is  therefore  proposed  to  show  that  a  large  class  of  Scrip- 
ture passages  at  least  appear  to  teach  this  doctrine,  and 
to  teach  it  explicitly.  It  is  not  overlooked  that  other 
interpretations  may  be  put  upon  them,  and  are  put  upon 
them.  But  it  will  be  seen  that  they  are  fairly  susceptible 
of  an  interpretation  in  harmony  with  Universalism.  Nay, 
in  many  instances  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  only  obvi- 
ous and  natural  interpretation  compels  this.  It  is,  of 
course,  impossible  to  quote  here  all  the  texts  accepted  by 
UniversaHsts  as  teaching  their  faith.  Many,  considered 
even  stronger,  in  certain  particulars,  than  any  advanced, 
must  be  altogether  unnoticed.  In  the  limits  assigned,  the 
design  is  to  make  as  clear  as  possible  certain  affirmations 
and  declarations  of  inspiration.  It  is  not  believed  that, 
in  any  instance,  Scripture  has  been  strained  or  wrested. 
There  certainly  has  been  no  such  intention.  In  no  case, 
moreover,  is  the  critical  exegesis  exhausted.  This  could 
not  be,  without  more  space  t^an  has  been  allotted  to  this 
chapter.  Besides,  this  book  is  designed  at  least  as  much 
for  the  unlearned  as  for  those  who  have  power  to  examine 
the  original  versions  for  themselves. 

Immediately  after  the  Fall,  and  the  fearful  curse  pro- 
nounced as  consequent  upon  it,  the  Old  Testament  re- 
cords a  magnificent  promise  and  prophecy  of  a  redemp- 
tion that  should  be  commensurate  therewith.  "  I  will  put 
enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman,  and  between  thy 


2  24        THE  LATEST  WORD   OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

seed  and  her  seed :  it  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou 
shalt  bruise  his  heel."  ^  On  this,  Dr.  Lange  says,  "  The 
protevangel  .  .  .  contains  the  germ  of  all  later  Messianic 
prophecies ;  therefore,  it  is  so  universal,  so  comprehen- 
sive, so  dark,  and  yet  so  striking  and  distinct  in  its  funda- 
mental features.  As  the  ground  outhne  of  the  future 
salvation,  it  denotes,  i.  The  religious  ethical  strife  be- 
tween good  and  evil  in  the  world,  and  the  sensible  pres- 
entation of  this  strife  through  natural  contrasts,  —  the 
serpent,  the  woman.  2.  The  concrete  form  of  this  strife 
and  its  gradual  genealogical  unfoldings  :  the  seed  of  the 
serpent,  the  seed  of  the  evil  one,  and  the  children  of  evil ; 
the  seed  of  the  good  and  the  children  of  salvation.  3.  The 
decision  to  be  expected  :  the  wounding  of  the  woman's 
seed  in  the  heel ;  that  is,  in  his  human  capability  of  suffer- 
ing, and  its  connection  with  the  earth  ;  the  treading  down, 
or  the  destruction,  not  of  the  serpent's  seed  merely,  but 
of  the  serpent  himself,  and  that,  too,  in  his  head,  the  very 
centre  of  his  life.  The  whole  is,  therefore,  the  prediction 
of  an  universal  conflict  for  salvation,  with  the  prospect  of 
victory.  From  this  basis,  the  promise  proceeds  in  ever- 
narrowing  circles,  until  it  passes  over  from  the  general 
seed  of  the  woman  to  the  ideal  seed,  and  from  that  again 
draws  out  in  ever-widening  circles,  together  with  the  self- 
unfolding  promise  of  the  kingdom  of  God.     Thereby,  too, 

^  Gen.  iii.  15. 


UNIVERSALISM.  225 


does  the  conception  of  the  promise  assume  an  ever-deeper 
and  richer  form."  ^ 

This  is  sufficiently  suggestive,  while  it  is  certainly  care- 
fully guarded  in  the  interest  of  a  limited  triumph  of  good 
over  evil.  A  critical  examination  of  the  promise,  however, 
leaves  no  room  to  doubt  its  intended  universal  application, 
with  the  "  prospect  of  victory  "  as  universal  as  the  "  pre- 
diction of  an  universal  conflict  for  salvation."  The  enmity 
shall  be  between  the  seed  of  the  woman  and  the  seed  of 
the  serpent.  The  serpent,  which,  whatever  else  it  may 
mean,  means  sin,  shall  bruise  the  heel  of  the  seed  of  the 
woman.  But  the  seed  of  the  woman,  he  —  5<-n  —  shall 
bruise,  utterly  crush,  destroy,  —  'n^^-7  —  the  head  of  the 
serpent.  The  promise  and  prophecy  gradually  unfold. 
To  Abram,  of  the  seed  of  the  woman,  it  is  said,  "  In  thee 
shall  all  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed ;  "  ^  and,  "  In  thy 
seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  ^  The 
same  promise  is  made  to  Isaac  ^  and  to  Jacob,^  of  the  seed 
of  Abraham.  That  both  prophecy  and  promise  rest  in  Jesus 
Christ  \\\\\  not  be  questioned.  St.  Peter  declared  to  the 
people  of  Jerusalem,  "  Ye  are  the  children  of  the  prophets, 
and  of  the  covenant  which  God  made  with  our  fathers, 
saying  unto  Abraham,  And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  kin- 
dreds of  the  earth  be  blessed.     Unto  you  first,  God,  hav- 

^  Com.  in  Gen.,  p.  247,  Am,  ed,  -  Gen.  xii.  3. 

3  Gen.  xxii.  18.  ♦  Gen.  xxvi.  4. 

^  Gen.  xxviii.  14. 

15 


2  26        THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

ing  raised  up  his  Son,  sent  him  to  bless  you,  in  turning 
away  every  one  of  you  from  his  iniquities."  ^  St.  Paul 
says,  "  The  Scriptures,  foreseeing  that  God  would  justify 
the  heathen  through  faith,  preached  before  the  Gospel 
unto  Abraham,  saying,  In  thee  shall  all  nations  be  blessed." 
"  That  the  blessing  of  Abraham  might  come  on  the  Gen- 
tiles through  Jesus  Christ."  ^  Unto  Christ,  and  his  work 
of  salvation,  is  then  traced  the  promise  of  salvation,  in  the 
words,  "  Now  to  Abraham  and  his  seed  were  the  promises 
made.  He  saith  not,  And  to  seeds,  as  of  many :  but  as 
of  one,  —  And  to  thy  seed,  which  is  Christ."  ^  Christ, 
therefore,  is  the  seed  of  the  woman,  of  wjiom  it  is  said, 
^'Jle  shall  bruise  thy  head."  "  When  the  fulness  of  the 
time  was  come,  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a  woman, 
made  under  the  law,  to  redeem  them  that  were  under  the 
law,  that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons."  ^  The 
blessing  is  to  be  to  "  all  nations,"  to  "  all  kingdoms,"  to 
"  all  families  "  of  the  earth,  and  is  to  consist  in  the  turning 
away  of  all  (every  one)  from  iniquities,  in  order  to  their 
adoption  as  sons  of  God ;  /.<?.,  in  order  to  their  salva- 
tion. 

In  no  instance  will  a  critical  examination  of  the  Old 
Testament  prove  adverse  to  this  prophecy  and  promise. 
So  far  as  it  makes  a  revelation  at  all,  it  is  a  revelation  — 

^  Acts  iii.  25,  26.  2  Gal.  iii.  8,  14. 

3  Gal.  iii.  16.  *  Gal.  iv.  4,  5. 


UNIVERSALISM.  227 


notwithstanding  all  the  sin  and  wandering  of  humanity, 
and  in  absolute  harmony  with  the  severest  judgments  on 
account  of  sin  —  of  goodness,  of  mercy,  of  love,  of  long- 
suffering,  of  forbearance,  and  of  forgiveness,  on  the  part 
of  God  towards  the  children  of  men.  Of  the  memorable 
interview  between  God  and  Moses  it  is  said,  "  And  the 
Lord  passed  before  him,  and  proclaimed,  the  Lord  God, 
merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering,  and  abundant  in 
goodness  and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiv- 
ing iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no 
means  clear  the  guilty."  ^  The  whole  passage  is  remark- 
able for  its  strength  and  beauty,  and  its  wide-sweeping  sig- 
nificance. He  is  "long-suffering," — ^ong,  i.e.  slo^a  of 
anger,  ^^t\ii.  Tjli^-  He  is  the  lastvigly  strong  God,  "-55  ; 
and  therefore  He  is  "keeping  mercy,"  there  is  abiding 
kindness,  icn,  with  Him,  to  the  thousands,  'z^t:\^,  — 
not  of  individuals  only,  but  of  years  and  of  ages.  For 
ever,  or  while  it  shall  be  needed.  He  forgives,  is  lifting, 
5«r:,  i.e.  taking  away,  the  sins  of  men.  The  Psalmist  has 
substantially  the  same  thought,  when  he  says,  "  He  will 
not  always  chide,  neither  will  he  keep  his  anger  for  ever."  ^ 
"Thus  saith  the  Lord  "  to  Isaiah,  "  I  will  not  contend  for 
ever,  neither  will  I  be  always  wroth ;  for  the  spirit  should 
fail  before  me,  and  the  souls  which  I  have  made."  ^  It 
would  seem  that  no  words  could  more  forcibly  express  the 

^  Exodus  xxxiv.  6,  7.  ^  Ps.  ciii.  9.  ^  Is.  Ivii.  16. 


2  28    THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

perpetual  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercy  of  the  Infinite, 
or  the  intention  of  God  to  turn  away  His  judgments,  when 
they  shall  have  served  their  end,  and  accomplished  their 
purpose.  Isaiah  plainly  intimates  that  no  soul  could  exist 
under  an  abiding  condemnation.  It  would  exhale  its  life 
under  the  fearfulness  of  its  hopelessness ;  it  would  cease 
to  exist  as  a  sentient  being.  The  writer  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  —  that  New-Testament  commentary  on  the 
Pentateuch  —  well  paraphrases  the  record  of  the  revelation 
which  God  makes  of  Himself  to  Moses  :  "  For  he  hath 
said,  I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake  thee."  ^  The 
quintuple  negation,  ov  p/  oe  dvoo,  ovd'  ov  (a/j  oa  lyyiuzalmoo, 
is  of  great  force  and  significance.  It  is  equivalent  to  "  I 
will  not,  I  will  not  leave  thee.  I  will  never,  never,  never 
forsake  thee."  The  eternal  God  eternally  abides  in  kind- 
ness. He  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever. 
The  same  towards  each,  and  towards  every  human  crea- 
ture. His  mercy  remains  "  unto  the  thousands  "  of  men 
and  of  ages. 

When  the  fulness  of  the  times  was  come,  God  sent  forth 
his  Son.  In  this  seed  of  the  woman,  the  intent  of  God 
in  the  redemption  of  the  world  is  made  clear  to  an  extent 
of  which  the  old  world  had  no  conception.  The  thoughts 
here  suggested  cannot  now  be  developed.  The  exam- 
ination of  the  New  Testament  reveals  the  fulfilment  of 

^  Heb.  xiii.  5. 


UNIVERSAL!  SM.  229 


salvation,  —  the  "filling  up  of  salvation  "  promised  and 
prophesied  under  the  elder  dispensation.  The  seed  of 
the  woman  appears,  whose  work  is  to  bruise  the  serpent's 
head. 

Take  the  annunciation  of  the  angel,  and  the  song  of  the 
heavenly  host,  at  the  advent.  "  Fear  not :  for  behold,  I 
bring  you  good  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all 
people.  For  unto  you  is  born  this  day  in  the  city  of 
David,  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord."  "  Glory  to 
God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward 
men."  1  Here  is  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel — • 
evayyeli^o^ui,  good  tidings,  —  which  is  a  great  grace, 
y/ioav,  an  occasion  of  great  joy,  "  which  shall  be  to  a//, 
to  the  people,"  7Jrig  Hoxai  Tzavxi  to;  Xum.  That  this  has 
reference  to  the  people  of  Israel  only  is  a  position  not 
justified  by  the  text  —  is,  indeed,  subversive  of  the  whole 
idea  of  the  Gospel,  which  is  asserted  to  be  for  the  world. 
In  view  of  this  Gospel,  there  is  ascribe.d  glory  in  the 
highest  to  God ;  and  the  assurance  of  peace  to  men,  of 
His  good  pleasure.  'Ev  dvdQcoieoig  evdoyJa,  "to  men  of 
pleasure  "  must  be  rendered,  to  men,  of  the  pleasure  of 
God,  I.  e.  of  the  free  grace  of  God.  "  For  the  Son  of 
Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost,"  "^ 
u7to)M).6g.  He  came  to  seek  and  to  save  the  utterly  lost, 
perished.     AnoXlvni  is  very  strong.     Yet,  from  this  con- 

*  Luke  ii.  10,  11,  14.  ^  Luke  xix.  10. 


230        THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

dition  of  death  the  Son  of  Man  saves,  —  seeks  out,  and 
saves. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  "  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world."  ^  He  lifts,  aiowv ;  carries  away, 
j^ir: ;  the  sin  of  the  world,  x6g{xov.  Jew  and  Gentile  are 
included  here,  throughout  the  world.  This,  in  the  most 
comprehensive  sense  possible. 

"  God  sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the 
world,  but  that  the  world,  through  him,  might  be  saved."  ^ 
Not  that  XQivii  zov  '/oafiov,  but  that  oadrj  6  aoGfiog,  through 
him.  The  Gospel  is  of  salvation,  not  of  condemnation. 
"The  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  hath  given  all  things 
unto  his  hands."  ^  Hath  given  all,  navTa,  i.e.  every  one, 
into  his  hands.  For  what  purpose  ?  To  what  end  ?  "  All 
that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  to  me  ;  and  him  that 
cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  '^  All,  naVy 
"every  one"  whom  God  hath  given  —  He  has  given 
every  one  —  shall  come,  i]^u ;  and  the  one  who  comes, 
he  will  never,  never,  ov  pj,  cast  out,  or  reject. 

"  And  I,  if  I  be  Hfted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  me."  ^  These  words  are  remarkable  at  once 
for  their  strength  and  their  reach  of  significance.  How- 
ever they  may  point  to  the  cross  and  its  power,  they  reach 
beyond,  and  take  hold  of  the  exaltation  of  Christ,  and  his 

'  John  i.  29.      ^  John  iii,  17.      ^  John  iii.  35. 
*  John  vi.  37.  Comp.  38,  39,  40.        ^  John  xii.  32. 


UNIVERSALIS  JI. 


231 


reign  beyond  this  world,  in  which  he  is  still  drawing  to 
himself.  The  Greek  is,  x«j'co,  tap  vip(od(a  ta  rr^g  y^^g,  ndv- 
Tag  D.y.voco  TtQog  Ifiavror.  "  And  I,  when  I  shall  have  been 
exalted  oiitofxhQ  earth,  all  (everyone)  I  shall  draw  to 
myself."  It  would  seem  that  no  declaration  could  well 
be  stronger,  or  more  wide-reaching,  or  more  complete. 
It  takes  in  the  ages,  present  and  future,  for  the  carrying 
forward,  and  the  completion,  of  the  great  work  of  redemp- 
tion which  Christ  came  to  effect. 

"  Thou  hast  given  him  power  over  all  flesh,  that  he 
should  give  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  thou  hast  given 
him."  1  The  "all  flesh"  here,  rtdaqg  acajy.og,  is  a  com- 
mentary upon  the  "  all,"  the  "  every  one,"  we  have  already 
had.  The  Lord  Jesus  has  authority  over  every  one,  that 
to  every  one  may  be  given  eternal  Hfe,  ^lo/}*'  aimnov,  i.e. 
spiritual  Hfe,  the  hfe  of  God  in  the  soul,  without  which,  of 
course,  there  is  no  salvation,  but  with  which  salvation  is 
assured. 

If  the  Gospels  are  left  at  this  point,  it  is  not  because 
they  are  exhausted  in  relation  to  the  subject-matter  of  this 
chapter,  but  only  because  there  is  no  space  for  further 
reference.  The  blessing  promised  in  the  garden,  repeated 
to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  expressed  in  manifold 
types  and  symbols,  has  taken  form.  The  seed  of  the 
woman,  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  before  Abraham,  is  revealed 
with  power  and  will  to  destroy  the  seed  of  the  serpent. 

1  John  xvii.  2. 


232         THE  LATEST  WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

The  glad  message  and  assurance  of  salvation  are  con- 
tinued by  the  apostles,  when  the  Son  of  God  was  received  up 
into  glory.  St.  Peter  reminded  the  Jews,  after  he  had 
healed  the  lame  man  at  the  beautiful  gate  of  the  temple, 
that  it  was  by  virtue  of  faith  in  Christ  that  the  miracle  was 
performed,  —  faith  in  him  whom  they  had  so  recently  cru- 
cified, but  who  had  burst  the  bars  of  death,  and  was  risen 
into  heaven,  —  and  then  states,  "  Whom  heaven  must  re- 
ceive until  the  times  of  restitution  of  all  things,  which  God 
hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  prophets  since 
the  world  began."  ^  Direct  reference  is  then  made  to  the 
Abrahamic  covenant,  and  to  Samuel,  and  to  all  who  fol- 
lowed after,  foretelling  "  those  days,"  verse  24,  rag  ruiiQag 
ravzag,  i.e.  of  "  the  restitution  of  all  things."  The  restitu- 
tion of  all  things  is  the  restoration  of  all,  of  "every  one," 
anoAaTaaxdascog  Ttdvrcov.  Specific  reference,  no  doubt, 
for  the  purpose  in  hand,  is  made  of  the  promise  by  the 
Apostle  to  those  about  him,  the  Jews,  as  the  children  of 
Abraham ;  but  the  promise  is  itself  world-wide  and  uni- 
versal. This  can  scarcely  be  seriously  questioned.  The 
71SUS  loquendi  requires  dTzoyiaraazdoaojg  to  be  understood 
as  a  restoration,  a  reinstating  in  a  condition  which  had 
been  forfeited  or  lost,  i.e.  a  condition  of  purity,  and  fellow- 
ship with  God,  such  as  is  represented  as  existing  before 
the  temptation  and  Fall.     Substantially,  though  naturally 

1  Acts  iii.  21. 


UNIVERSALISM.  233 


guardedly,  this  idea  of  universal  restoration  is  accepted  by 
the  latest  authorities.^ 

In  the  thought  of  the  Apostles,  the  whole  race  was  lost 
in  sin,  bound  by  it,  and  unable  to  escape  from  it  and  its 
curse.  So  St.  Paul,  setting  forth  the  grace  of  God,  asserts, 
that  "  God  commendeth  his  love  toward  us,  in  that,  while 
we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us."  ^  The  conclu- 
sion is  very  clear,  and  very  fully  set  forth,  "  Wherefore,  as 
by  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin ; 
and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned  : 
therefore,  as  by  the  offence  of  one,  judgment  came  upon  all 
men  to  condemnation ;  even  so  by  the  righteousness  of 
one  the  free  gift  came  upon  all  men  unto  justification  of 
life.  For  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  many  were  made 
sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many  be  made 
righteous.  That  as  sin  hath  reigned  unto  death,  even  so 
might  grace  reign  through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life 
by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  ^  Whatever  dogmatic  views 
may  be  held  ^vith  regard  to  the  Fall,  or  the  Sin,  or  the 
nature  of  the  Death  here  spoken  of,  the  purpose  of  the 
Apostle  is  evidently  to  show  grace  triumphing  over  sin, 
and  life  over  death,  and  a  restoration  to  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  To  this  effect  are  the  latest,  most 
learned  criticisms.      Dr.  Schaff^  says  :    "  The   complete 

^  Lechler  in  Lange.  Com.  Acts  iii.  11-26.     Doc.  et  Eth.  6,  p.  69. 
2  Rom.  V.  8.  ^  Rom.  v.  12,  18,  19,  21. 

*  Lange.    Com.  Rom.  p.  175,  n. 


234         THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

antithesis  would  read  thus  :  '  As,  (octisq,  by  one  man 
(Adam)  sin,  //  dfiaQiiu,  entered  into  the  world,  and  death, 
6  ddvaxog,  through  sin,  and  thus  death  extended,  dir^ldeVj 
to  all  men,  inasmuch  as  all  sinned,  ijfAaQiov :  so  also,  ovrag 
'^ai,  by  one  ma7i,  Jesus  Christ,  righteousness^  ij  ducuoavvt], 
entered  into  the  world,  and  life,  ij  ^coij,  through  righteous- 
ness, and  thus  life  shall  extend,  disXEvcnai,  to  all  men,  in- 
as77iuch  as  {on  condition  that^)  all  shall  believe,  Ttiarevoonai. 
.  .  .  The  great  points  of  comparison  are  :  (i)  Sin  and 
death  as  a  principle  and  power,  proceeding  from  Adam ; 
righteousness  and  life,  as  a  counteracting  and  conquering 
principle  and  power,  proceeding  from  Christ,  upon  the 
whole  human  race.  (2)  Death  passing  upon  all  men 
by  participation  in  the  sin  of  Adam ;  life  passing  upon  all 
men  by  participation  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ." 
This  language,  from  the  point  of  view  occupied  by  Dr. 
Schaff,  is  very  direct,  and  very  explicit.  It  is  true,  that  an 
immediate  eifort  is  made  to  destroy  the  logical  force  of 
the  language,  and  to  show  that  the  analogy  is  not  absolute, 
since,  while  all  men  are  one  with  Adam,  all  men  are  not 
one  with  Christ !  Nevertheless,  honest  criticism  evokes  the 
confession  that  "  what  Christ  gained  for  us  is  far  greater 
(^Ttolloj  fidlXov  tTteQiaaevasv,  v.  15,  compare  tj]v  mni66uav 

1  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  faith  is  a  "  condition  "  of  salvation.  "  All 
shall  believe,"  is,  howrever,  the  obvious  thought  of  the  Apostle.  It  would 
seem,  then,  that  the  "on  condition  that  "  is  a  gloss  that  may  be  rejected. 
It  is  not  germane  to  the  text,  which  is  not  conditional. 


UNIVERSALISM.  235 


rr^g  laQixQig,  v.  17,  and  vm(JsmQiaaevaev  tj  x^'^^'^j  ^'  20) 
than  what  was  lost  by  Adam."  The  remarkable  admission 
is  also  made,!  that  "  The  inference  of  a  imiversal  salvatioti 
from  this  verse  (19),  as  also  fromver.  15  {dg  rovg  Ttollovg 
tmQLoaevaev) ,  and  18  {etg  ndiTag  clrdQcoTtovg  eig  dr/.camaiv 
^Mtjg),  is  very  plausible  on  the  surface,  and  might  be  made 
quite  strong  if  this  section  could  be  isolated  from  the  rest 
of  Paul's  teachings  on  the  terms  of  salvation,"  etc.  It  is 
not  only  "very  plausible,"  but —  and  not  without  careful 
examination  —  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  any  other  conclu- 
sion, not  to  say  "  inference,"  can  be  deduced  from  these 
and  the  other  verses  under  consideration.  The  01  nolloi 
and  the  xovg  nollovg  of  v.  15  have,  beyond  doubt,  the 
same  force.  If  the  "  many  "  be  dead,  through  the  offence 
of  one,  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  abounds  to  the  same 
"  many."  Beyond  all  doubt,  also,  the  Ttdviag  dvdQmnovg, 
twice  repeated  in  v.  18,  has  the  same  significance  as  the 
01  nolloL  of  v.  15.  The  judgment  of  condemnation  on  ac- 
count of  sin  was  to  "  all  men,"  to  "  the  many  "  dead  in 
sin.  The  same  "  all  men  "  are  the  men  who  have  sinned, 
and  upon  whom  death  passed  on  account  of  sin,  v.  12. 
As  there  can  be  no  limitation  in  the  one  case  of  the  mhreg, 
oi  TtoRoi,  Tidvzag  dvdQcoTZOvg,  so  there  can  be  none  in  the 
other.  As  extensive  as  is  the  evil  of  sin,  so  extensive  is 
the  remedy.  If  Adam  is  the  type  of  universal  sinfulness, 
^  Lange.  Com.  Rom.,  p.  1S9. 


2^6         THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM, 


Christ  is  the  type  of  universal  righteousness.  If  in  Adam 
all  men  are  lost,  in  Christ  all  men  are  to  be  saved,  —  "  shall 
be,"  fut.  indie,  xaraarad/jaovTai. 

"  For  the  earnest  expectation  of  the  creature  waiteth 
for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God.  For  the  creature 
was  made  subject  to  vanity,  not  willingly,  but  by  reason  of 
him  who  hath  subjected  the  same  in  hope.  Because  the 
creature  itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of 
corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 
For  we  know  that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travail- 
eth  in  pain  together  until  now."  ^  The  word  "  creature," 
in  verses  19,  20,  21,  must  be  rendered  "  creation,"  Tixiaig, 
as  it  is  in  v.  22.  In  v.  20,  according  to  the  most  ap- 
proved reading,  a  comma  should  be  placed  before  the 
words  "in  hope,"  fcV  tXmdi,  which  should  be  immediately 
connected  with  v.  21.  The  whole  creation  is  in  hope  of 
deliverance  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  free- 
dom of  the  glory  of  the  children  of  God,  ^4'  T:rjv  alevdeQiav 
rrjg  do^Tjg  rmv  tmvoav  jov  Oeov.  It  is  the  patient,  eager  ex- 
pectation, hope,  uTtoHaQadonia,  of  the  creation.  It  is  sub- 
ject to  vanity,  to  this  bondage  of  corruption,  not  willingly, 
but  by  the  will  of  God  ;  but  in  hope  of  deliverance.  For 
this  creation  groans  and  travails.  Can  there  be  a  reason- 
able doubt  of  the  result  ?  Whatever  view  may  be  taken  of 
the  meaning  of  "  creation,"  xrioig,  it  must  at  least  include 

1  Rom.  viii.  19-22. 


UNIVERSALISM. 


237 


humanity,  and  point  definitely  to  all  humanity  not  yet  re- 
deemed, but  needing  and  capable  of  redemption.  Con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  humanity  is  striving  after  salva- 
tion, —  after  God,  as  its  final  goal.  That  humanity  is,  at  least 
primarily,  in  the  thought  of  the  apostle,  by  :irloig,  would  ap- 
pear from  the  consummation  to  which  the  yiTiGig  looks,  — 
the  freedom  of  the  glory  of  the  children  of  God,  as  the  heirs 
of  God  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ,  v.  1 7.  That  there  is  here 
a  direct  pointing  to  the  "  Restitution  of  all  things,"  to  final, 
universal  salvation,  would  seem  to  be  clear.  The  whole 
chapter  is  to  this  effect,  and  will  well  repay  careful  and  criti- 
cal consideration,  especially  with  reference  to  its  closing 
words  :  "  For  I  am  persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life, 
nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  pres- 
ent, nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any 
other  creature,  -ATicig  hena,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 
What  more  could  be  added  here  to  make  this  universal 
in  significance? 

"  For  I  would  not,  brethren,  that  ye  should  be  ignorant 
of  this  mystery,  lest  ye  should  be  wise  in  your  o^vn  con- 
ceits :  that  bhndness  in  part  is  happened  to  Israel,  until 
the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in.  And  so  all  Israel 
shall  be  saved ;  as  it  is  written,  there  shall  come  out  of 
Zion  the  Deliverer,  and  shall  turn  away  ungodliness  from 
Jacob  :  For  this  is  my  covenant  unto  them,  when  I  shall 


238        THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 


take  away  their  sins.  For  God  hath  concluded  them  all 
in  unbelief,  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all.  For  of 
him,  and  through  him,  and  to  him,  are  all  things  :  to  whom 
be  glory  for  ever.  Amen."  ^  The  entire  chapter  ought 
to  be  thoughtfully  consulted,  and  will  well  repay  careful 
study,  as  it  labors  to  show,  that  whatever  may  be  the  tem- 
porary obscurations,  Jews  and  Gentiles,  in  the  "  economy," 
olyioviiivij,  of  God,  are  destined  for  salvation.  The  pur- 
pose of  God  loses  sight  of  no  individual,  and  keeps  stead- 
ily in  view  the  reconciliation  of  all  things  to  Him.  The 
blindness,  or  hardness,  nodQMag,  was  upon  Israel  only 
until  the  fulness,  7zXf]Qcofxa,  of  the  Gentiles  should  come  in, 
ehtldt].  Clearly,  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  into  faith  in 
Christ,  unto  salvation,  in  an  absolute  sense,  all  Gentiles 
shall  be  brought,  —  equally  all  Israel,  Ttdg  'laQarjl.  Lan- 
guage could  not  well  be  stronger.  God  has  concluded 
a/l,  Tovg  Ttdvrag,  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  in  unbelief,  that  he 
might  have  mercy  upon  them  all,  rovg  Ttdvrag.  That  the 
Apostle  teaches  universal  salvation  here,  can  be  evaded 
only  upon  the  ground  that  he  knew  that  some  souls  would 
refuse  to  accept  the  proffered  mercy,  and  so,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  a  freedom  which  will  not  be  disturbed,  would  be 
self-excluded  from  heaven.  If  the  possibihty  of  such  a 
result  could  be  shown,  it  might  shake  the  argument.  But 
to  do  this  is,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  impossible.     Given 

1  Rom.  xi.  25,  26,  27,  32,  36. 


UNIVERSALIS  M.  239 


the  purpose  of  God  to  secure  universal  salvation,  and 
human  freedom  will  freely  bow  at  length  to  Him.  "  Thy 
people  shall  be  willing  in  the  day  of  thy  power."  ^  There 
is  absolutely  no  evidence  that  the  Apostle  doubted  the 
fulness  of  his  own  argument.  Well,  therefore,  might  he 
exclaim,  "  For  of  him,  and  through  him,  and  unto  him, 
^4*  cwTov,  are  all  things,  ra  navza,  to  whom  be  glory  for 
ever.     Amen." 

"  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be 
made  alive."  ^  Whatever  the  "  death  "  may  mean,  whether 
taken  in  the  largest  sense,  or  only  as  referring  to  physical 
dissolution,  these  words  are  significant  of  universality. 
The  same  "all,"  Tzuvreg,  who  "are  dying,"  dnodr/jay.ovaiv, 
"  shall  be  made  ahve,"  fut.  indie,  l^cooTtoirjOi^aorTca,  in 
Christ.  Beyond  this,  i.e.,  after  the  resurrection,  although 
when  is  not  stated,  nor  can  it  be  known  to  us  without  a 
revelation,  there  shall  be  an  "end."  "Then  cometh  the 
end,  when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God, 
even  the  Father ;  when  he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule, 
and  all  authority  and  power.  For  he  must  reign,  till  he 
hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet.  The  last  enemy  that 
shall  be  destroyed  is  death.  For  he  hath  put  all  things 
under  his  feet.  But  when  he  saith  all  things  are  put  under 
him,  it  is  manifest  that  he  is  excepted,  which  did  put  all 
things  under  him.     And  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued 

^  Ps.  ex.  3.  ^  I  Cor.  XV.  22. 


240        THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVEESALISM. 

unto  him,  then  shall  the  Son  also  himself  be  subject  unto 
him  that  put  all  things  under  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in 
all."  1  This  "  end,"  v.  24,  riXo^,  may  refer,  as  is  some- 
times assumed,  to  the  termination  of  the  process,  or 
processes,  of  the  resurrection,  which  may  be  successive 
and  progressive.  But,  however  that  may  be,  it  certainly 
points  to  the  closing  of  the  Messianic  reign,  when  the 
present  state  of  things  shall  be  past,  and  an  immortal 
life,  embracing  all,  shall  be  fairly  entered  upon.  At  this 
time,  whenever  it  shall  be,  the  mediatorial  kingdom  will  be 
delivered  up  to  God.  Previous  to  this  will  have  been  put 
down  all  rule,  and  authority,  and  power,  —  that  is,  as  is 
almost  universally  conceded,  all  that  is  not  in  harmony 
with  God  and  His  righteousness.  Christ  must  himself 
reign  until  this  shall  be  accompHshed,  until  all  enemies 
are  subdued.  Last  of  all,  death  itself  is  destroyed.  It  is 
destroyed,  done  away  with,  by  the  completion  of  the  resur- 
rection. Then,  when  Christ  has  brought  all,  ra  itavxa,  into 
subjection  to  himself,  he  will  deliver  up  his  mediatorial  king- 
dom, and  subject  himself,  vTzorccyrjaerai,  to  God,  who  origi- 
nally put  all,  ra  navxa,  under  him,  and  then  God  will  be 
zci  TzdvTa  tv  Ttaaiv,  —  "not  all  in  some,"  but  all  i/i  all. 
The  critical  objections  to  this  conclusion  are  not  out  of 
mind  ;  but  they  obtain  validity  only  by  a  departure  from  the 
obvious  meaning  of  the  Apostle's  language,  as  well  as  the 

1  Cor.  XV.  24-28. 


UNIVERSAL  TSM.  2  4 1 


entire  drift  of  his  argument.     Truly,  "  God  was  in  Christ 
reconcihng  a  world  unto  himself."  1 

"  That  in  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times,  he 
might  gather  together  in  one  all  things  in  Christ,  both 
which   are  in  heaven,  and  which  are  on   earth,  even  in 
him."  2    It  is  the  good  pleasure  of  God,  purposed  in  Him- 
self, V.  9,  that  in  the  fulness  of  time  He  will  gather  up  to- 
gether in  one,  all,  t«  navza,  in  Christ,  tv  tm  Xqioto).     All 
in  the  heavens,  to.  tv  roig  ovQcivoig,  and  all  on  the  earth, 
ra  tm  zrjg  yijg.     Here,  again,  whatever  meaning  we  may 
assign  to  ra  Ttdvra,  it  must  be  inclusive  of  humanity.     Its 
universality  is  almost  universally  conceded.     Indeed,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Apostle  to 
refer  definitely  to   men,  referring,   as  he   does,  again  to 
Christ,  in  v.  11,  and  declaring  that  in  him  "we  have  ob- 
tained an  inheritance,  being  predestinated  according  to 
the  purpose  of  him  who  worketh  all  things  after  the  coun- 
sel of  his  own  will." 

"  Wherefore,  God  hath  highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him 
a  name  which  is  above  every  name  :  That  at  the  name  of 
Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and 
things  in  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth;  and  that 
every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  3  "  Every  knee,"  TtCiv  yow, 
refers,  of  course,  to  beings.     "In  heaven,"   "in  earth," 

^2Cor.  V.  19.  2  Eph   j_  jQ^  3  Philip,  ii.  p^  10^  „ 

16 


242         THE  LATEST    WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

"  under  the  earth,"  it  is  conceded,  signify  the  entire  reahii 
of  worshipping  creatures,  —  the  whole  intelligent  creation. 
"  Every  tongue,"  ndau  ylojaaa,  has  the  same  significance. 
The  bowing  of  the  knee,  yid^ipn,  is  the  act  of  adoration. 
The  confession  of  the  tongue,  t^o^oXoyi^atjiat,  is  the  ex- 
pression of  what  the  bending  knee  indicates,  —  the  ac- 
knowledgment, including  the  praise  and  gratitude  for 
good  received,  of  the  Lordship  of  Christ,  to  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father.  If  universal  salvation  is  not  involved  in 
all  this,  it  is,  at  least,  a  strange  use  of  language. 

*'  For  it  pleased  the  Father  that  in  him  should  all  ful- 
ness dwell ;  and  having  made  peace  through  the  blood  of 
his  cross,  by  him  to  reconcile  all  things  to  Himself;  by 
him,  <I  say,  whether  they  be  things  in  earth,  or  things  in 
heaven."  1  As  before,  the  rd  Ttavxa  here,  the  "all,"  has 
reference  —  can  only  have  reference  —  to  every  one  — 
ev'ery^one  needing,  or  susceptible  of,  salvation,  and  must 
be  inclusive  of  humanity,  if  not  applying  ojily  to  humanity. 
All,  whether  they  be  on  the  earth,  or  whether  they  be  in 
the  heavens,  ehe.  xd  Im  rtjg  yijg,  eiTa  rd  ti  roTg  ovQavolg. 
For  a/l  men  is  peace  "  being  made  through  the  blood  of 
his  cross."  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw 
all  men  unto  me."  All  men,  therefore,  according  to  this, 
will  God  "reconcile  to  himself,"  aTtoxaTaXld^ai  eig  avrov, 
through  Jesus  Christ. 

^  Colos.  i.  19,  20. 


UNIVERSALISM.  243 


"  I  exhort,  therefore,  that,  first  of  all,  supplications, 
prayers,  intercessions,  and  giving  of  thanks,  be  made  for 
all  men,  7idvrm>  dvdoMmov,  for  kings,  and  for  all  that  are 
in  authority,  that  we  may  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life 
in  all  godliness  and  honesty.  For  this  is  good  and  accept- 
able in  the  sight  of  God  our  Saviour,  who  will  have,  dilti, 
all  men,  navtag  drdocoTtovg,  to  be  saved,  and  to  come  unto 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  For  there  is  one  God,  and 
one  Mediator  betvveen  God  and  men,  dvOocoTKor,  the  man 
Christ  Jesus,  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all,  Tzdvzmv,  to 
be  testified  in  due  time."  ^  The  language  is  very  explicit. 
The  all  men  for  whom  we  are  enjoined  to  pray,  are  the  all 
men  God  will  have  to  be  saved,  and  the  all  men  for  whom 
Christ  gave  himself  a  ransom.  This  universality  is  con- 
ceded. It  is  objected,  however,  that  the  "will  have," 
Ot'lsi,  of  God  is  not  determinative  of  salvation  to  all  men. 
It  is  urged  that  it  is  simply  a  desire  on  the  part  of  God. 
But,  and  obviously,  the  whole  drift  of  the  language  of 
the  Apostle,  in  the  verses  above,  is  against  the  idea  of 
mere  desire.  The  verb,  moreover,  carries,  not  only  the 
meaning  of  wish,  or  desire,  but  the  idea  of  deliberate  pur- 
pose ;  a  will,  back  of  which  is  ability  and  power  to  accom- 
plish it.  Donegan  gives  the  form,  i9tloo  :  "  To  will ;  to 
wish,  —  to  be  wont  or  accustomed,  and,  according  to  the 
context,  to  be  able,  to  mean."     In  accordance  with  the 

^  I  Tim.  ii.  1--6. 


244         THE  LATEST    WORD    OF   UNIVERSALTSM. 

context  above,  the  natural  idea  is,  a  will  of  purpose,  and 
of  a  purpose  which,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  cannot 
be  thAvarted.  Only  the  thought  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
"  Restoration  "  cannot  be  in  the  New  Testament,  could 
lead  to  any  other  view.  The  Apostle  has  the  same  word, 
when  he  says,  "  Having  made  kno\vn  unto  us  the  mystery 
of  his  will,  d^XriiiciTog  (from  delca),  according  to  his  good 
pleasure,  which  he  had  purposed  in  himself,  that  in  the 
dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times  he  might  gather  to- 
gether in  one  all  things  in  Christ,"  &c.  Even  as  a  will  of 
desire  only,  however,  it  would  be  impossible  that  it  should 
fail.  God's  own  words  are  :  "  My  counsel  shall  stand,  and 
I  will  do  all  my  pleasure."  i 

It  would  seem  further,  that,  among  the  Gentiles,  perhaps 
also  among  the  Jews,  a  measure  of  the  persecution  the 
Apostle  experienced,  grew  out  of  the  nature  of  the  faith  he 
proclaimed.  He  declares  :  "  For,  therefore,  we  both  labor, 
and  suffer  reproach,  because  we  trust  in  the  living  God, 
who  is  the  Saviour  of  all  men,  ndvtojv  dvdQcoTtcov,  especially 
of  those  that  believe."  ^  Without  reservation,  God  is  here 
set  forth  as  the  Saviour  of  all  men  ;  while  he  is,  also,  in  an 
especial  manner,  the  Saviour  of  believers.  The  word 
(jon/jo,  Saviour,  uniformly  so  translated,  in  connection 
with  God  or  Christ  must  be  taken  in  its  fullest  sense.  Of 
the  nature  of  the  special  salvation  there  need  be  no  expla- 

'  Isaiah  xlvi.  lo.  ^  i  Tim.  iv.  lo. 


UNIVERSALISM.  245 


nation,  since,  obviously,  the  reference  can  only  be  to  those 
already  entered  into  the  faith  of  the  Gospel.  What  God 
intends  for  all,  all  will  obtain  in  due  time.  It  is  given, 
in  large  measure,  at  once,  to  those  who  now  accept  Him 
and  the  word  of  His  grace. 

"  For  the  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation  hath  ap- 
peared to  all  men,  teaching  us,  that,  denying  ungodliness 
and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  hve  soberly,  righteously,  and 
godly,  in  this  present  world."  ^  Literally,  "  For  the  grace 
of  God  imparting  salvation  to  all  men  hath  appeared." 
That  is  to  say,  It  is  revealed  that  the  grace  of  God  imparts 
salvation  to  all  men,  rtaaiv  dvOQcanoig.  The  construction, 
"  imparting  salvation  to  all  men,"  omTi'^oiog  ndoiv  dvdow- 
noi^,  is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  text,  in  the  light  of 
most  recent  researches.  "Bringing  salvation,"  —  which 
is  perhaps  as  good  a  rendering,  though  not  as  true  and 
clear,  —  is  adopted  by  such  exegetes  as  Alford,  ElHcot,  De 
Wette,  &c.  The  //  of  the  received  version  is  rejected,  as 
not  in  the  best  codices. 

"  Thou  hast  put  all  things,  ndvra,  in  subjection  under 
his  feet.  For  in  that  he  put  all,  rd  rcdvxa,  in  subjection 
under  him  ;  he  left  nothing  that  is  not  put  under  him. 
But  now  we  see  not  yet  all  things,  rd  Ttdrta,  put  under 
him.  But  we  see  Jesus,  who  was  made  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels  for  the  suffering  of  death,  crowned  with  glory 

1  Titus  ii.  II,  12. 


246        THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

and  honor ;  that  he,  by  the  grace  of  God,  should  taste 
death  for  every  man,  vtiIq  Ttavxog.''^  ^  Man  was  created  in 
the  image  of  God,  when  made  a  Hving  soul.^  He  is  thus 
crowned  with  glory  and  honor.  In  the  purpose  of  God, 
all  things  were  to  be  subject  to  man,*^  except  God.  This 
dominion,  and  this  honor  and  glory,  might  be  —  was 
temporarily  —  lost.  But  it  should  be  regained  in  the 
Messianic  world,  or  reign  of  Christ,  —  reahzed  before  that 
reign  should  end,  and  the  kingdom  be  delivered  up  to 
God.  The  writer  to  the  Hebrews  argues,  that  we  do  not 
see  all  this  accomplished  yet,  and  now,  as  to  man.  But 
we  do  see  Jesus,  made,  as  man  himself  was  made,  also  a 
little  lower  than  the  angels  in  his  humanity,  on  account  of 
his  suffering  of  death  crowned  with  glory  and  honor  — 
which  death  he  died,  by  the  grace  of  God,  for  every  man, 
vmQ  TtavTog.  Of  this  final  clause,  Dr.  Moll  ^  says  :  "  The 
author's  main  point  is  not  to  explain  why  Jesus  has  gone 
through  suffering  to  glory,  .  .  .  but  to  declare  the  object 
to  be  subserved  alike  by  the  incarnation  of  the  First-Born, 
and  the  exaltation  of  the  Crucified  One  in  the  inseparable 
unity  of  the  theanthropic  person,  Jesus ;  viz.,  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  divine  purpose,  that  Jesus  should,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  for  the  benefit  of  every  one,  taste  of  death." 
Dr.  Moll  says,  indeed,  that  "  there  is  no  reason  for  laying 

'  Heb.  ii.  8,  9.  ^  Gen.  i.  26 ;  ii.  7. 

3  Gen.  i,  26-28  ;  Ps.  viii.  "*  Lange.  Com.  Heb.  ii.  5-13,  p.  51. 


UXIVER  SALTS  Jf.  247 


the  entire  stress  on  vTtsQ  nrnTog,^  but  admits  that  "  the 
masc.  sing,  is  employed  with  a  designed  emphasis."  He 
says,  moreover,  that  "  the  weight  of  the  thought  is  rather 
distributed  nearly  equally  between  the  impressive  closing 
words  yevatjTcu  davdxov,  taste  of  death,  the  vmo  ncaTog, 
which  declares  the  imiversality  of  the  purpose  and  merit 
of  his  death,  accomplished  by  his  entrance  into  glory,  and 
the  xtiQixi  deov,  which  refers  back  the  whole,  for  its  efficient 
and  originating  cause,  to  the  grace  of  God."  The  ideal 
seed  of  the  woman,  cro^vned  with  glory  and  honor,  is  the 
representative  man,  the  pledge  that  humanity  will  be  in 
like  manner  crowned  in  the  fulness  of  time. 

"  He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  —  and  not  for  ours 
only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,"  ^  Tten}  olov 
Tov  xoofiov.  Whatever  may  be  implied  in  the  word  "  pro- 
pitiation "  here,  it  must  certainly  apply  not  only  to  those 
already  believers,  but  to  the  "  whole  world."  Dr.  Braune,^ 
while  assuredly  not  accepting  the  conclusion  of  the  Uni- 
versalists,  remarks  upon  this  passage  :  "  The  Apostle's 
design  was  manifestly  to  show  the  universality  of  the  pro- 
pitiation, in  the  most  emphatic  manner,  and  without  any 
exception.  This  renders  any  and  every  limitation  inad- 
missible." The  iladfiog,  the  reconciliation  unto  God,  is  of 
the  whole  world,  in  the  salvation  of  the  world  from  sin, 
through  Jesus  Christ. 

^  I  John  ii.  2.  2  Lange.  Com.  i  John  ii.  i,  2,  p.  45. 


248        THE  LATEST    WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

In  conclusion,  not  as  having  exhausted  the  subject,  or 
as  having  examined  all  the  passages  bearing  upon  the 
question,  but  because  the  allotted  space  has  been  used, 
attention  is  called  to  the  words,  "  He  that  believeth  on  the 
Son  of  God  hath  the  witness  in  himself :  he  that  believeth 
not  God,  hath  made  him  a  liar ;  because  he  believeth  not 
the  record  that  God  gave  of  his  Son.  And  this  is  the  rec- 
ord, that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life,  and  this  life  is 
in  his  Son."  ^  The  word  "  record  "  will  be  better  rendered 
"  testimony."  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  has 
the  solemn  witness  —  testimony  —  of  God  in  him,  —  the 
testimony  which  God  testifieth  of  his  Son,  ^aQiv()iav,  ^le^a^- 
TVQrfABv.  Which  testimony  is,  that  He  has  given  eternal 
hfe  to  men  in  Jesus  Christ.  Is  this  true,  or  is  it  not? 
Has  He,  or  has  He  not  ?  If  not,  no  man  can  prove  Him 
false  by  unbelief.  But  if  otherwise,  every  man  may  well 
tremble  at  that  attitude  of  unbelief  which  makes  God  a 
liar. 

'  I  John  V.  10,  II. 


UNIVERSALISM.  249 


UNIVERSALISM     (PHILOSOPHY). 

BY  PRESIDENT  ELMER  H.  CAPEN. 


E 


'VERY  system  of  truth  which  lays  claim  to  human 
belief  must  be  able  to  vindicate  its  philosophy.  It 
is  not  enough  that  it  can  point  to  the  obvious  teaching  of 
Holy  Scripture ;  it  must  also  show  that  it  accords  with 
human  reason,  that  it  does  no  violence  to  the  nature  of 
God  as  we  know  it,  or  to  the  nature  of  man  as  we  have 
observed  it.  Tradition,  doctrine,  authority,  the  most  pos- 
itive declarations  apparently  of  the  Bible,  cannot  long 
make  head  against  antecedent  improbabiUties.  It  is  more 
likely,  men  will  not  fail  to  conclude,  that  our  interpreta- 
tions of  Scripture  should  be  erroneous,  than  that  reason, 
experience,  and  the  known  sequences  of  things  should 
be  at  fault.  The  intellectual  progress  of  the  world  has 
established  this  conclusion,  namely,  that  truth  is  uniform ; 
that  the  law  of  God  is  harmonious  and  all-pervading ;  that 
nowhere  in  the  universe  is  one  set  of  principles  opposed 
to  another  set  of  principles ;  that  whatever  is  unmistak- 
ably taught  on  one  plane  of  being  must  be  essentially 
true  in  every  stage  of  existence,  however  enlarged  and 
strengthened  by  a  deeper  knowledge  or  a  wider  experi- 


250    THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

ence.  The  hope  not  only  of  religion,  but  of  every  phase 
of  religious  development,  is  limited  by  its  ability  to  recom- 
mend itself  to  the  thought  and  life  of  humanity. 

No  form  of  belief  has  made  stronger  or  more  confi- 
dent appeals  to  the  Scriptures  than  Universalism.  Against 
every  assault  it  has  intrenched  itself  successfully  behind 
the  unmistakable  declarations  of  God's  Word.  The 
Scriptural  arguments  in  its  defence  have  always  been  in 
the  nature  of  a  demonstration,  while  its  exegesis  of  diffi- 
cult and  disputed  passages  is  in  substantial  agreement  with 
the  best  scholarship  of  every  time.  But  the  Scriptural 
argument  is  effectually  reinforced  by  the  philosophy  of 
Universalism  ;  and  it  carries  conviction  when  it  is  candidly 
examined,  because  it  so  fully  coincides  with  the  instinctive 
beliefs  of  the  human  soul.  Given  the  nature  of  God  as 
it  is  conceived  by  every  Christian,  and  the  Universalist 
conclusion  respecting  his  relations,  not  only  to  the  whole, 
but  to  every  particular  member,  of  the  universe,  is  inev- 
itable. It  is  only  when  some  conflicting  element  in 
revelation  is  assumed,  or  when  the  mind  bows  to  the 
demands  of  a  relentless  creed,  that  a  result  at  variance 
with  this  is  reached. 

The  essential  features  of  Universalism,  briefly  stated, 
are  these  :  — 

I.  Its  Theology  embraces  (i)  God,  infinite,  all-wise, 
just.     His  attributes  are  rooted  in  and  all  their  operations 


UNI  VERSAL  ISM.  2  5  I 


are  controlled  by  love,  which  is  his  nature.  He  is  not 
only  the  Creator  of  every  thing,  but  the  Father  of  every 
soul.  An  intelligent  plan  preceded  the  creation,  and  runs 
through  it  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  Nothing  has 
been  created,  nothing  permitted,  that  did  not  enter  into 
this  plan,  or  is  not  effectually  held  in  its  grasp.  God  is 
everywhere ;  not  in  the  theosophic,  nor  yet  in  the  pan- 
theistic sense,  but  as  a  tender,  loving,  paternal,  con- 
sciously active,  independent,  free  Personality,  who  directs 
all  the  activities  of  time  and  eternity,  shapes  all  events, 
moulds  and  wins  all  souls  to  himself. 

The  Universalist  Theology  embraces  (2)  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  Father,  who  was  from  the  beginning  with  him^ 
sharing  his  counsels,  executing  his  will.  He  voluntarily 
took  upon  himself  our  nature,  and  lived  among  us  a  purely 
human,  although  in  some  respects  a  superhuman,  trans- 
figured, divine  hfe.  He  taught  after  the  fashion  of  men, 
although  his  doctrine  bore  upon  it  the  unmistakable 
marks  of  its  heavenly  origin.  He  meekly  suffered  re- 
proach for  the  truth's  sake,  and  died  in  his  unyielding 
devotion  to  the  will  of  God  and  the  welfare  of  men. 
The  mysterious  but  simple  and  apparent  union  thus  of 
two  natures,  the  divine  and  the  human,  in  the  person  of 
Christ,  makes  him  not  merely  the  representative  of  God 
to  us,  not  merely  the  elder  brother  of  man,  in  whom  the 
possibilities  of  our  nature  are  realized,  but  the  connecting 


252         THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

link  between  the  divine  and  the  human,  the  medium  of 
communication  between  us  and  our  heavenly  Father,  the 
one  by  whom  the  whole  human  race,  and  every  individual 
member  of  it,  is  brought  into  contact  and  connection 
with  God.  No  system  holds  more  tenaciously  to  the 
always  active,  living  presence  and  power  of  Christ.  No 
system  makes  the  dependence  of  the  soul  more  absolute 
upon  him  for  spiritual  instruction,  for  moral  guidance,  for 
every  thing  that  constitutes  its  essential  life,  as  well  as  for 
the  fulfilment  of  its  heaven-aspiring  hopes. 

In  respect  of  the  doctrine  of  (3)  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
Universalist  Theology  is  at  one  with  primitive  Christianity. 
It  holds  to  the  truth,  which  is  as  old  as  the  Church,  that 
the  Spirit  ever  "  proceedeth  from  the  Father  and  the  Son  ;  " 
that  it  is  that  by  which  God  manifests  himself,  makes  his 
presence  and  power  felt  in  history,  in  nations,  in  institu- 
tions of  every  name,  in  the  soul  of  man ;  that  it  is  that 
through  which  the  divine  work  is  done,  and  is  the  un- 
ceasing witness  of  the  Father's  personal  interest  and  love  ; 
that  it  is  that  also  by  which  Christ  impresses  himself  upon 
our  consciousness,  appeals  to  our  sympathies,  draws  forth 
our  affections,  reahzes  the  promise,  "  I  will  not  leave  you 
comfortless  ;  "  that  it  is  that  which  pleads  and  strives  with 
men  everywhere,  reminding  them  of  neglected  duty,  re- 
proving them  for  sin,  quickening,  stimulating,  urging  them 
to  an  obedient  and  holy  life ;  that  it  is  that  which  inter- 


UNIVERSAL  ISM.  253 


cedes  for  men  with  God,  striving  with  us  and  for  us, 
giving  effectual  emphasis  to  our  prayers,  keeping  us  from 
despondency  and  fear,  filling  us  with  fresh  hope,  beget- 
ting within  us,  even  in  seasons  of  disappointment  and 
sorrow,  matchless  peace  and  heavenly  joy,  —  always  lifting 
us,  on  the  abundant  and  irrepressible  tide  of  its  energy, 
towards  the  bosom  of  the  Infinite. 

2.  In  its  doctrine  of  Man,  Universalism  holds  that  man 
is  a  child  of  God.  He  is  endowed  with  attributes  which 
are  like  God's,  and  which  proclaim  his  immortal  nature 
and  destiny.  He  has  intelligence  and  a  moral  sense.  He 
is  responsible  and  free.  He  has  the  power  of  distinguish- 
ing right  and  wrong,  and  can  choose  between  them. 
But,  whatever  choice  he  makes,  he  is  accountable  for  it. 
He  is  under  law.  If  he  does  wrong,  he  must  pay  the 
penalty  of  wrong.  If  he  does  right,  the  voice  of  God 
will  say,  "  Well  done."  But  penalty  is  not  arbitrarily 
annexed  to  wrong-doing ;  there  is  no  element  of  vindic- 
tiveness  in  it.  It  is  not  applied  for  the  purpose  of 
soothing  the  offended  majesty  of  Heaven.  It  is  reme- 
dial in  its  aim.  It  reminds  the  offender  that  he  is 
God's  child,  and  that  he  has  broken  God's  law.  If 
he  sins  repeatedly,  he  will  be  punished  repeatedly. 
No  amount  of  penalty  can  destroy  his  freedom.  He 
may  choose  to  sin  as  long  as  he  is  willing  to  take 
sin   and  penalty  together.     But,   whenever  he  shall  be 


2  54    THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSAL  ISM. 

moved  to  a  different  choice,  the  way  will  be  open. 
Neither  can  his  freedom  operate  in  any  way  to  destroy 
the  relation  which  exists  between  him  and  God.  What- 
ever he  does,  whatever  he  suffers,  he  is  still  God's  child ; 
and  nothing  can  permanently  efface  from  his  soul  the 
image  of  the  Father.  He  is  always,  therefore,  under  the 
moral  government  of  God.  For  his  sake  this  government 
was  established.  For  his  sake,  that  is,  the  law  was  given, 
the  prophets  sent,  the  Gospel  proclaimed ;  for  his  sake 
Christ  died.  No  more  emphatic  testimony  than  this 
could  be  given  of  the  inherent  worth  of  the  human  soul. 
It  is  not,  therefore,  according  to  the  nature  of  things,  not 
within  the  range  of  the  divine  possibilities,  that  man  ever 
should  be  abandoned  to  his  own  devices,  ever  utterly 
given  over  to  a  "  reprobate  mind ; "  but  he  will  be  held 
in  the  divine  control  and  the  divine  love  until  of  his  own 
choice  he  acknowledges  the  justice  of  that  control,  and 
yields  joyfully  and  thankfully  to  the  behests  of  that  love. 

3.  These  views  of  God,  and  Christ,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  Man,  foreshadow  the  Universalist  view  of 
Destiny.  We  hold  that  the  sovereignty  of  God  will  be 
completely  vindicated  in  the  ultimate  harmony  of  the 
moral  universe.  No  power  on  earth  or  in  heaven  can 
defeat  the  purpose  of  God  to  bring  every  thing  into  subjec- 
tion to  himself;  in  other  words,  to  be  the  actual  and  the 
actually  recognized  Master  in  his  own  dominions.     The 


UNIVERSALISM. 


255 


process  by  which  this  result  is  to  be  secured  is  neither 
violent  nor  mechanical ;  but  it  springs  out  of  those  natural 
relations  which  God  has  estabhshed  between  the  different 
parts  of  his  economy.  It  involves,  to  be  sure,  the  happi- 
ness of  souls ;  but  happiness  is  reached  only  through 
voluntary  obedience.  Righteousness,  in  reality,  is  the 
end  ;  happiness  is  only  an  incident.  The  thing  which  God 
demands  of  every  soul  is  rectitude,  moral  purity,  spiritual 
submission.  This  is  the  end  towards  which  he  works, 
and  there  will  be  no  pauses  until  the  end  is  reached. 

It  will  not  do  to  say  that  man's  freedom  may  defeat 
the  beneficent  intentions  of  the  Almighty;  for  that 
would  be  a  poor  sort  of  freedom  which  practically  dooms 
men  to  endless  sin.  Nor  will  it  do  to  affirm  that  the 
power  of  evil  habit  may  become  so  strong  that  it  will  be 
impossible  for  men  any  more  to  choose  eifectually  the 
right.  That  would  be  to  contradict  every  theory  on  which 
the  recovery  of  souls  is  sought  in  this  world ;  the  univer- 
sal assumption  being  that  no  case  is  so  desperate  as  to  be 
beyond  the  saving  efficacy  of  infinite  grace.  This  posi- 
tion, which  is  the  last  refuge  of  modern  Orthodoxy,  sa- 
vors both  of  fatalism  and  atheism.  It  is  fatalistic  in  so 
far  as  it  fixes,  beyond  all  hope  of  amendment,  the  condi- 
tion of  any  soul.  It  is  atheistic  in  so  far  as  it  puts  the 
final  destiny  of  man  entirely  in  his  own  keeping.  Equally 
futile  is  the  claim  that  death  determines  the  moral  condi- 


256         THE  LATEST   WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

tion  of  humanity.  For  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  death 
will  change  either  the  nature  of  man  or  the  disposition 
and  purpose  of  God.  So  long  as  man  is  man,  he  may- 
forsake  evil  and  embrace  righteousness ;  so  long  as  God 
is  God,  he  will  certainly  restore  the  penitent  and  welcome 
the  returning  prodigal.  It  only  remains  to  look  at  the 
object  which  has  been  steadily  pursued  in  the  giving  of 
the  Law  and  the  promulgation  of  the  Gospel,  to  feel 
assured  that  the  poet  manifests  a  profoundly  philosophical 
insight  when  he  sings  :  — 

"  I  can  but  trust  that  good  shall  fall, 
At  last  —  far  off  —  at  last,  to  all, 
And  every  winter  change  to  spring." 

In  one  vast,  resistless  movement,  the  whole  creation 
sweeps  towards  the  grand  finality  of  universal  holiness  and 
universal  love. 

The  foregoing  are  only  the  more  prominent  features  of  a 
great  system.  Taken  together,  they  constitute  what  may 
be  called  the  Universalist  idea.  Unquestionably,  this 
idea  meets  the  demands  of  a  sound  philosophy.  It  not 
only  does  no  violence  to  the  intellect  and  the  moral  senti- 
ments, but  it  completely  answers  all  their  requirements. 

It  is  essential  that  a  system,  to  be  philosophical,  should 
rigidly  conform  to  the  laws  of  thought.  No  affront  must 
be  offered  to  the  faculties.  No  impossible  task  must 
be   demanded   of  the   intelligence.     But  every  postulate 


UNIVERSALISM.  257 


must  commend  itself  to  the  dictates  of  an  enlightened 
reason.      Not   only   must   the    separate   propositions   be 
able    to    stand   the  test  of  the  severest  intellectual  criti- 
cism, but  the  whole  doctrinal  fabric  must  be  such  that, 
when  turned  about  on  every  side,  the  keenest  scrutiny 
can  find  no  flaw  or  blemish  ia  it.     Like  a  perfect  armor, 
the  different  parts  must  so  fit  together  that  the  fiercest 
antagonist  can  find  no  place  through  which  he  can  thrust 
his  remorseless  lance.     Then,  if  it  serves  the  purpose  it 
was  intended  to  serve,  fills  the  place  it  was  meant  to  fill, 
does  the  work  it  was  fashioned  to  do,  and  is  not  out  of 
joint  with  the  known  ways  and  works  of  God,  whatever  its 
shortcomings  in  other  respects,  on  the  side  of  thought 
at  least  no  impeachment  can  be  made  of  its  philosophy. 

Let  us  pause  here  for  a  moment.     What  do  the  laws  of 
thought  require  ? 

The  first  requisite  is  clearness.  It  would  seem  some- 
times as  if  men  believed  the  opposite  of  this,  —  as  if  when 
a  subject  is  involved  in  an  obscurity  as  dense  as  a  New- 
port fog  it  is  philosophical ;  or  as  if  when  it  is  chaotic  or 
nebulous,  without  any  organic  centre,  and  floats  before 
the  mind  in  a  dim  and  dream-like  way,  it  is  philosophical. 
But  no  philosophy  which  could  stand  the  jolts  and  jars  of 
time  was  ever  made  out  of  such  flimsy  material.  Clear- 
ness is  the  only  plank  that  will  bear  the  strain.  But  the 
Universalist  idea,  as  I  have  sketched  it,  does  not  fail  in 

17 


25S        THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 


this  particular.  No  mist  of  uncertainty  or  doubt  ob- 
scures its  outlines ;  no  vague  and  formless  opinion,  no 
unintelligible  or  random  thought,  helps  to  make  up  the 
body  of  its  doctrine.  The  system  as  a  whole  stands  forth 
to  the  eye  of  the  mind  as  clearly  and  sharply  defined  as 
a  mountain  peak  against  the  western  sky  in  a  cloudless 
morning. 

Nor  is  the  law  of  clearness  violated  in  any  of  its 
component  parts.  The  notion  of  an  all-powerful,  all- 
wise,  just,  beneficent  God,  who  is  at  once  Creator  and 
Father,  and  whose  fatherly  affection  and  fatherly  care 
are  unceasing,  is  certainly  intelligible.  The  proposition 
that  the  Son  came  voluntarily  into  our  world,  lived  a 
human  Hfe,  taught  a  divine  doctrine,  and  finally  died  for 
the  salvation  of  men,  however  at  fault  it  may  be  tried  by 
other  tests,  is  a  clear  proposition.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  as  a  living  and  omnipresent  witness  of  God 
and  Christ,  and  the  operative  agent  of  all  divine  benefi- 
cence and  all  human  saintliness,  offers  nothing  which  the 
thought  of  man  cannot  easily  and  effectively  grasp.  The 
view  we  hold  of  man  as  1  he  child  of  God,  peccable  but 
free,  with  moral  instincts  and  attributes  which  lead  him 
to  respect  virtue,  with  good  enough  in  him  to  justify  the 
gracious  offices  of  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his 
behalf,  is  neither  hazy  nor  nebulous.  So,  finally,  the 
Universalist  doctrine  of  destiny,  pointing   to   the   grand 


UNIVERSALISM.  259 


consummation  of  universal  righteousness,  is  not  open  to 
the  charge  that  it  is  incomprehensible.  True,  it  is  said 
to  be  inconceivable  that  God  will  finally  take  the  most 
heinous  sinners  into  the  abodes  of  unending  bliss.  But 
that  is  just  what  he  is  said  to  do  under  every  system  that 
bears  the  name  of  Christian.  It  is  said  to  be  utterly 
against  reason  that  men  who  have  wasted  their  lives  in 
worldly  and  wicked  ways  should  be  permitted  after  death 
to  dwell  in  the  mansions  of  God  with  the  redeemed.  But 
the  objection  lies  against  every  form  of  Christian  doctrine 
that  has  ever  been  taught  among  men.  The  extension  of 
the  process  from  a  portion  of  the  race  to  the  whole  of  it 
does  not  alter  the  principle. 

Consider  for  a  moment  the  reasonableness  of  the  prin- 
ciple. Is  it  absurd  in  a  moral  universe  that  sinners  should 
be  redeemed  ?  If  some,  why  not  all  ?  Which,  indeed,  is 
the  more  inconceivable  :  that  hohness,  which  is  at  war 
with  sin,  should  finally  prevail,  or  that  evil  should  be  per- 
manently enthroned?  —  that  God,  who  made  man  and 
subjected  him  to  law,  should  always  maintain  his  ascend- 
ancy over  him,  and  through  the  operation  of  the  law 
which  he  ordained  for  him  secure  his  voluntary  submis- 
sion, or  that  the  creature  should  finally  spurn  the  Creator, 
and  effectually  resist  and  defy  his  authority  ?  If  the  former 
conception  is  thought  the  more  reasonable,  it  is  not  hkely 
to  fail  of  acceptance  from  lack  of  clearness. 


26o        THE  LATEST  WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

But  the  laws  of  thought  are  not  properly  observed  un- 
less a  system  is  self-consistent,  —  unless  its  different  parts 
are  held  together  by  an  unbroken  chain.  It  is  possible 
for  many  truths,  which  are  at  once  intelligible  and  clear, 
to  coexist,  and  to  be  thrown  very  closely  together  by 
some  principle  of  association,  yet  between  which  there  is 
no  vital  and  necessary  connection.  A  system  may  be 
constructed  as  a  mason  constructs  a  wall,  —  using  stones  of 
different  sizes  and  shapes,  fitting  each  one  into  its  proper 
place,  and  binding  them  all  together  with  some  artificial 
material ;  or  it  may  spring  out  of  certain  primal  and 
necessary  truths,  and  grow  as  the  tree  grows  from  the 
ground  according  to  a  principle  of  vitality  inherent  in 
the  seed,  extracting  by  the  law  of  assimilation  from  earth 
and  air  the  elements  that  are  essential  to  its  development. 
A  system  which  claims  for  itself  a  philosophical  basis 
must  be  organic. 

Here  Universalism  will  be  found  to  bear  the  test.  Its 
general  idea  is  not  at  variance  with  any  of  the  special 
truths  on  which  it  rests,  nor  is  there  any  conflict  between 
these  truths  themselves.  The  whole  conception  is  harmo- 
nious. Between  premise  and  conclusion  there  is  not  the 
slightest  gap,  —  the  connection  is  necessary  and  inevita- 
ble. Every  process  of  reasoning  which  marches  straight 
from  a  legitimate  starting-point  to  a  conclusion  cannot 
fail  to  find  that  a  Being  whose  nature  is  love,  and  who  is 


UNIVERSALISM.  2  6 1 


not  limited  in  wisdom  or  power,  will  not  only  purpose  the 
ultimate  moral  purity  of  his  creatures,  but  institute  meas- 
ures which  will  certainly  bring  it  to  pass ;  not  only  pur- 
pose the  destruction  of  evil  and  the  permanent  and  perfect 
triumph  of  good,  but  actually  secure  that  result.  In  hke 
manner,  it  is  necessary  to  think  that  the  Son  of  God,  who 
came  from  heaven  to  reveal  God,  to  enforce  duty,  and  to 
point  out  the  destiny  of  the  race,  who  in  this  work,  and 
to  induce  men  to  accept  his  doctrine  and  leadership, 
voluntarily  suffered  reproach  and  death,  would  leave  no 
essential  thing  undone  which  would  make  his  dying  decla- 
ration, "  I  have  finished  the  work  which  Thou  gavest  me 
to  do,"  less  than  the  Uteral  and  exact  truth.  Moreover, 
the  conception  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the  ever  living  and 
active  agent,  working  constantly,  both  in  time  and  in 
eternity,  towards  the  result  which  the  Father  and  the  Son 
alike  have  set  out  to  accompHsh,  is  certainly  not  illogical. 
Neither  is  it  inconsistent  to  suppose  that  a  free  creature 
like  man,  with  penalty  always  treading  relentlessly  on  the 
heels  of  transgression,  and  with  God,  and  Christ,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  good  angels  pleading  with  him  to  forsake 
iniquity,  should  "  somehow,  somewhere,"  ^\dllingly  and 
eagerly  seek  the  welcoming  embrace  of  a  loving  God. 

Again,  the  laws  of  thought  require  that  a  philosophical 
system  should  not  be  at  variance  with  the  known  order  of 
things.    If  its  postulates  contradict  what  we  find  in  nature 


262         THE  LATEST  WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

or  the  human  soul,  we  have  no  right  to  make  them.  If  it 
assumes  any  thing  which  the  course  of  history,  or  the 
actual  experience  of  men,  will  not  justify,  its  assumptions 
must  perish.  Our  beliefs  must  not  greatly  outrun  the 
regular  recurrence  of  human  events  j  our  hopes  must 
ever  be  fortified  by  our  experience.  No  theory  will  com- 
mand general  assent  so  long  as  it  disregards  incontestable 
facts.  What  will  be  must  be  in  conformity  with  what  is, 
and  only  from  what  is  may  we  form  any  just  notion  of 
what  will  be. 

The  Universalist  faith  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
application  of  this  rule.  It  does  not  ask  the  acceptance 
of  a  single  principle  which  is  unnatural,  or  which  is  open 
to  a  priori  objection.  Power,  wisdom,  goodness,  are 
manifest  in  the  universe ;  purpose  to  bless  and  save 
runs  through  all  the  great  religions  which  have  claimed  a 
divine  origin ;  the  desire  for  virtue,  the  hope  of  heavenly 
favor  and  heavenly  bliss,  are  native  to  the  human  mind. 
Men  have  observed,  it  is  true,  that  nature  in  some  of  its 
aspects  is  cruel,  and  hence  have  concluded  that  cruelty  is 
a  permanent  factor  in  the  mind  of  God.  But  only  a  very 
narrow  induction  could  yield  so  poor  a  result.  It  is  not 
si  range,  perhaps,  that  Stoicism,  which  was  the  most  stalwart 
system  of  antiquity,  should  have  bowed  with  equal  awe 
before  good  and  ill,  and  ascribed  them  both  to  fate.  But 
the  Stoic  was  confined  in  his  observation  to  a  very  narrow 


UNI  VERSAL  ISM.  263 


range  of  things.  He  could  not  take  in  the  vast  spaces 
which  the  astronomer  of  our  time  traverses,  and  watch 
the  play  of  law  working  always  to  beneficent  results  in 
the  material  universe.  He  was  not  cognizant  of  tlie 
immense  cycles  which  are  as  an  open  book  to  our  mod- 
ern geologist,  and  through  which  he  sees  ever  order, 
harmony,  beauty,  and  a  higher  fonn  of  Hfe,  constantly 
emerging.  He  had  not  at  his  command  whole  sections 
of  human  history  showing  how  nations  have  come  into 
being,  lived  out  their  day,  performed  their  work,  and  then 
passed  for  ever  from  the  stage  of  existence,  by  means  of 
which  the  historian  of  the  present  time  may  study  the 
progress  of  humanity.  No  wonder  if  he  thought  evil  was 
a  permanent  thing,  with  nothing  to  mitigate  it.  There 
may  be  pain  in  the  upheaval  of  a  mountain,  in  the  rush 
of  a  cataract,  in  the  swing  of  planets,  in  the  sweep  of 
cycles,  in  the  blood  and  carnage  of  revolution ;  but  he 
who  perceives  that  these  things  are  only  preparing  the 
way  for  wider  and  more  permanent  blessings  will  not  base 
upon  them  an  accusation  against  the  goodness  of  God. 

It  is  sometimes  affirmed  that  the  Universalist  argument, 
based  on  the  goodness  of  God,  against  endless  suffering 
holds  against  all  suffering  whatever.  We  see  suffering,  it 
is  alleged,  here  and  now ;  therefore  we  have  no  right  to 
infer  that  it  may  not  always  last.  So  ?  Does  the  mind 
regard  as   identical   temporary  suffering,  which  may  be 


264         THE  LATEST    WORD    OF    UNIVERSALISM. 

punitive  and  which  may  be  disciplinary,  and  suffering 
which  is  unlimited  and  without  conceivable  purpose  or 
possible  end?  Properly  interpreted,  Universalism  is  not 
inconsistent  with  things  that  are. 

If  we  add  to  the  laws  of  pure  thought  the  laws  of  ethics, 
our  faith  will  be  strengthened,  and  not  weakened.  An 
essential  part  of  man's  nature  is  moral.  Therefore  a 
religion  which  will  fully  meet  the  natural  wants  of  man 
must  be  such  as  his  conscience  can  approve.  Conscience 
which  gives  us  the  sense  of  right,  justice,  goodness,  truth, 
virtue,  judges,  not  only  with  reference  to  our  own  con- 
duct and  that  of  our  fellow-men,  but  with  reference 
to  the  moral  quality  in  the  constitution  and  course  of 
things.  Religion  makes  its  first  appeal  to  the  mind 
through  the  conscience.  The  reason  for  this  is  evident. 
The  moral  nature  of  man  is  that  in  which  he  most  nearly 
resembles  his  Creator.  While  conscience  as  the  source 
of  our  moral  ideas  carries  with  it  its  own  authority  and 
obligation,  it  is  constantly  pointing  to  something  that  is 
above  and  beyond.  It  is  seeking  ever  to  clarify  and  per- 
fect its  judgments  by  a  nearer  view  of  the  eternal  recti- 
tude, by  those  indications  of  God's  will  which  are  to  be 
found  in  nature  and  the  soul.  Our  very  confidence  in 
our  own  moral  judgments  comes  from  our  faith  in  the 
absolute  rectitude  of  him  who  gave  us  our  moral  sense. 
We  believe  that  the  test  by  which  we  measure  both  our- 


UNI  VERSALISM.  265 


selves  and  others  is  safe  and  trustworthy,  because  it  has 
been  given  to  us  by  One  who  is  perfectly  infallible.  For 
the  same  reason,  also,  we  have  confidence  in  the  test  when, 
by  means  of  it,  we  seek  to  determine  what  we  should  natu- 
rally expect  of  a  government  instituted  and  carried  on 
by  the  Parent  and  Fountain  of  all  virtue.  We  cannot 
believe  that  the  conduct  and  character  of  God  will  vary 
in  principle  from  that  which  makes  conduct  and  charac- 
ter meritorious  in  man.  If  we  are  asked  to  believe  any 
thing  which  conflicts  thus  with  the  legitimate  action  of 
our  moral  faculty  we  shall  be  justified  in  refusing. 

Precisely  what  are  we  compelled,  by  our  moral  consti- 
tution, to  believe  in  respect  of  God  and  his  govern- 
ment? There  is  no  question  what  we  are  obliged  to 
believe  with  reference  to  ourselves.  Nothing  can  efface 
from  our  minds  the  conviction  that  sin  is  terrible,  odious, 
abominable.  No  amount  of  schooling  or  practice  in 
iniquity  can  weaken  the  force  of  this  conviction.  True,  by 
repeated  indulgence  the  moral  sense  may  become  some- 
what callous  ;  but  its  callousness  will  be  like  the  callousness 
of  the  stone-cutter's  hand,  which  when  the  horny  cuticle 
is  torn  away  is  more  sensitive  than  ever.  We  not  only 
believe  in  the  "  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,"  but  our 
nature  revolts  at  it ;  we  loathe  it ;  we  feel  bound  to  make 
war  upon  it,  to  wrestle  with  it,  and  to  seek  its  extermina- 
tion in  ourselves  and  others.     We  hate  it,  however,  not 


2  66    THE  LATEST  WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

merely  because  it  is  inherently  hateful,  but  because  God 
hates  it,  because  it  is  opposed  alike  by  his  law  and  his 
nature,  of  which  his  law  is  the  expression. 

The  course  of  moral  discipHne  which  renders  the  most 
efficient  aid  to  man  in  his  conflict  with  evil  is  regarded  as 
at  once  the  most  successful  and  the  most  godlike.  How 
is  it  possible  for  us  to  believe,  then,  that  God,  by  the 
different  instrumentalities  which  he  has  sanctioned,  pur- 
poses any  thing  less  than  the  complete  destruction  of  sin  ? 
Surely  he  will  not  complacently  witness  the  permanent 
establishment  of  what  he  hates,  and  what  he  calls  upon 
us  to  resist  and  destroy.  To  aflirm  that  would  be  to 
affirm  that  he  is  indifferent  to  what  his  nature  antago- 
nizes and  repels.  God's  government  upon  its  face  seems 
to  aim  at  the  destruction  of  iniquity ;  and  I  do  not  see 
how  it  can  be  called  a  perfect  government,  if  it  fails  to  do 
what  it  sets  out  to  do.  If  we  can  reason  at  all  from 
human  analogies,  it  cannot.  The  father  whose  control 
over  his  children  is  such  as  to  keep  them  from  tempta- 
tion, and  train  them  up  to  useful  and  virtuous  lives,  is 
the  good  father.  His  example  is  commended  as  worthy 
of  all  imitation.  The  state  that  exerts  the  most  beneficial 
influence  upon  its  citizens,  so  that  its  laws  are  cheerfully 
obeyed,  and  so  that  there  is  no  rebellion  and  no  discord, 
and  only  a  minimum  of  crime,  is  sure  to  be  the  admiration 
of  history.     But  the  one  particular  in  which  our  civiliza- 


UNI  VER  SAL  ISJf.  267 


tion  is  conceded  thus  far  to  be  a  failure  is  in  its  treatment 
of  the  criminal  classes  of  society.  It  is  not  so  much  that 
it  does  not  prevent  crime,  as  that  no  successful  method 
of  reform  has  yet  been  instituted.  We  may  restrain  the 
criminal,  and  make  an  example  of  him  that  will  be  a  terror 
to  evil-doers.  But  that  is  hardly  thought  to  be  the  highest 
result  attainable  by  a  Christian  state.  The  real  problem 
yet  to  be  solved  is,  how  to  cure  the  criminal,  —  how  to 
transfonn  him  into  a  citizen.  In  like  manner,  the  moral 
judgment  of  mankind  will  agree  that  it  is  scarcely  the 
noblest  function  of  God's  disciphne  to  simply  punish  the 
sinner,  and  leave  him  to  his  fate. 

In  reply  to  Dr.  Sawyer's  assertion,  that  God  could  not 
leave  the  sinner  finally  to  himself,  without  renouncing  the 
moral  responsibihties  he  willingly  assumed  in  his  creation, 
President  Porter  says  :  "  I  would  submit  that  those  who 
concede  that  God  can  permit  the  sin  which  he  hates,  and 
the  sinner  whom  he  must  punish,  to  exist  at  all,  cannot 
assert  that  God  is  morally  bound  not  to  create  a  being 
who  he  foreknows  will  sin  for  ever."  The  weak  point  in 
this  objection  is,  that  it  fails  to  recognize  any  distinction 
between  what  is  transient  and  temporary  and  what  is  final 
and  endless.  I  may  not,  indeed,  be  able  to  give  any 
other  account  of  the  existence  of  sin  than  that  is  a  neces- 
sary incident  of  man's  freedom.  But  what  of  that  ?  AU 
my  moral  instincts  are  not  outraged  by  its  presence  in  the 


268        THE  LATEST    WORD  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

world,  since  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  it  will  ultimately 
pass  away.  I  can  safely  leave  its  existence,  therefore, 
among  the  secret  things  that  belong  to  God.  But  to  say 
that  sin  is  here  as  a  finality,  and  that  there  is  no  hope  for 
the  sinner  either  in  time  or  eternity,  is  to  take  a  purely 
pagan  view  of  life,  is  to  leave  the  Christian  element  en- 
tirely out,  or  to  make  so  poor  a  use  of  it  that  it  is  practi- 
cally worthless,  and  to  put  a  strain  upon  the  moral  sense 
which  very  few  persons  of  tender  conscience  can  endure. 
"  The  enigma  of  life,  with  its  sorrows  and  joys,  its  smiles 
and  tears,"  is  not  only  unsolved,  but  is  darker  than  ever 
before. 

The  view  here  taken  is  immeasurably  strengthened  by 
the  fact  that  the  progress  of  our  Christian  civilization  is  all 
in  this  direction.  The  further  men  advance  in  the  appli- 
cation of  Christian  truth,  the  further  they  are  from  that 
practical  dualism  which  makes  Augustinianism  or  Calvin- 
ism so  repulsive  and  awful.  The  time  was  when  theolo- 
gians serenely  contemplated  the  consignment  of  the  larger 
part  of  the  human  race  to  endless  suffering.  The  time 
was  when  the  leading  lights  of  Christendom  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  divide  the  moral  universe  between  God  and  the 
Devil,  giving  the  Devil  by  far  the  larger  part.  To-day  all 
this  is  reversed  ;  and  it  is  not  only  the  prevailing  opinion 
in  the  Church,  but  the  thought  of  the  most  prudent 
teachers  in  the  Orthodox  party,  that  the  number  who  will 


UNIVERSALISM.  269 


be  finally  lost,  compared  to  the  sum  total  of  humanity,  is 
very  insignificant.  Not  only  so,  but  those  who  are  the 
most  reluctant  to  accept  the  terrible  notion  of  endless 
suffering,  or  endless  sin,  are  the  persons  whose  moral 
nature  is  the  keenest  and  most  active,  and  who  are  the 
most  deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  and  flavor  of  Christi- 
anity. How  are  we  to  account  for  this?  Can  it  be  that 
Christianity  in  its  practical  development  is  at  war  with  its 
essential  principles?  Can  it  be  that  the  spirit  which  it 
infuses  into  civilization  would  lead  men  to  question  the 
special  truth  which  is  the  most  important  of  all  for  them 
to  know  and  accept  ?  Can  it  be  that  in  educating  and 
moulding  the  moral  sense  it  yields  almost  inevitably  a  kind 
of  splendid  sentimentalism  which  makes  men  incapable  of 
facing  the  stern  realities  of  life  and  destiny?  A  moment 
of  careful  reflection  must  remove  the  grounds  of  so  des- 
perate an  alternative. 

There  is  another  portion  of  man's  nature,  partly  moral, 
partly  intellectual,  but  more  properly  perhaps  belonging 
to  the  department  of  the  feelings,  which  a  perfectly  true 
religion  ought  to  satisfy.  There  are  what  may  be  called 
the  social  and  humane  instincts,  of  which  religion  is  bound 
to  take  some  account.  Men  and  women  have  been  set 
apart  in  families ;  and  the  family  relation  is  the  source  not 
only  of  the  tenderest  and  purest  affections,  but  of  the 
deepest,  and  in  some  respects  the  holiest,  joys  of  life. 


270      THE   LATEST    WORD    OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

Again,  families  are  bound  together  into  communities  and 
states  ;  and  out  of  the  daily  neighborly  intercourse  of  man 
with  man,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  to  society  and  the 
state,  are  born  countless  forms  of  social  amenity  and  ex- 
alted friendship.  Something  is  due  to  the  qualities  on 
which  these  relations  are  based  and  out  of  which  these 
affections  spring.  If  religion,  in  its  possible  outcome, 
does  violence  to  the  most  sacred  domestic  feelings,  denies 
the  most  precious  domestic  hopes,  and  not  only  wrenches, 
but  demands  the  extinction  of,  all  domestic  instincts,  it 
cannot  long  command  the  assent  of  enlightened  judgment. 
There  may  be  those  who  will  believe  it,  because  they  think 
they  find  it  in  the  Word  of  God ;  but  more  will  reject  at 
once  the  teachings  of  Scripture  and  all  the  claims  of  re- 
ligion. In  like  manner,  if  the  noblest  forms  of  self-denial 
and  disinterested  human  love  are  wholly  overlooked  in  the 
ultimate  applications  of  justice,  very  soon  men  will  begin 
to  question  altogether  the  divine  intervention  in  the  whole 
scheme  of  things.  They  will  prefer  to  attribute  the  allot- 
ments of  good  and  ill,  in  which  there  is  so  Httle  to  satisfy 
the  native  sense  of  justice,  and  so  much  to  offend  the 
sympathetic  and  humane  qualities  of  the  soul,  to  a  re- 
morseless fate,  and  return  again  to  the  heroic  but  terrible 
consolations  of  the  Stoical  philosophy. 

But  as  there  is  a  broader  kinship  than  that  of  family  or 
neighborhood,  so  the  demands  of  humane  feeling  are  not 


UNIVER  SALTS  M.  2  7 1 


entirely  met  when  every  thing  has  been  discharged  that  is 
due  to  those  dear  ones  with  whom  we  share  our  secret 
thoughts,  and  to  our  fellow-travellers  to  whom  we  iitipart 
our  hopes  and  fears,  and  from  whom  we  receive  encour- 
agement and  sympathy.  The  Christian  religion,  which 
begins  with  the  idea  of  the  fatherhood  of  God,  specifically 
inculcates  the  doctrine  of  human  brotherhood.  Society 
is  one,  the  nations  are  one,  the  race  is  one.  Nothing 
that  concerns  humanity  as  a  whole,  nothing  that  affects 
any  individual  member  of  the  race  can  be  treated  with 
indifference  by  him  who  seeks  to  put  in  practice  the  spirit 
and  doctrine  of  Christ.  This  is  the  truth  which  seeks 
expression  in  the  varied  instrumentalities  by  which  law, 
order,  and  all  the  complex  relations  of  social  life,  are  pro- 
moted. It  is  the  aim  of  legislation,  the  palpable  goal  of 
diplomacy,  the  inspiration  of  all  statesmanship. 

But  the  truth  which  is  inculcated  thus  by  religion,  and 
which  meets  with  such  general  practical  recognition,  is 
receiving  scientific  confirmation.  All  Hnguistic  investiga- 
tions, all  studies  relating  to  the  fundamental  qualities  of 
races  and  types,  all  biological  observations  and  inductions, 
point  distinctly  to  the  organic  and  indestructible  unity  of 
mankind.  When  Christianity  teaches,  therefore,  that 
"  God  has  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men,"  it  is 
not  proclaiming  an  arbitrary  dictum,  which,  however  true 
in  the  realm  of  ideas,  has  no  solid  basis  in  the  realm  of 


272         THE  LATEST   WORD  OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

fact ;  but  it  is  giving  utterance  to  one  of  those  principles 
which  history  and  science  ahke  attest.  The  inference 
from  this  is  that,  when  it  is  said  Christ  came  to  save  the 
world,  humanity  is  meant.  The  term  humanity  is  inclu- 
sive, and  not  exclusive.  It  covers  not  only  sects  and 
kingdoms  and  races,  but  the  individual  members  which 
constitute  the  grand  whole.  The  world,  therefore,  cannot 
be  said  to  be  saved,  unless  its  different  divisions  of  race 
are  saved.  The  races  are  not  saved,  unless  men  are  saved. 
But  we  can  go  farther  even  than  that,  and  declare,  not 
merely  that  humanity  is  not  saved  but  by  the  salvation 
of  its  different  members,  but  that  the  individual  is  not 
saved  except  as  the  whole  is  saved  through  the  separate 
persons  who  compose  it. 

A  brief  glance  at  the  actual  state  of  things  will  illustrate 
this  point.  It  is  true  that  society  cannot  reach  perfection 
but  through  the  perfection  of  those  whose  relations  with 
each  other  make  up  what  we  term  society.  But  it  is  equally 
true  that  men,  under  the  social  law,  cannot  become  even 
relatively  perfect,  unless  the  state  in  which  they  find  them- 
selves is  favorable.  The  health  of  my  moral  nature  is 
sensibly  affected  by  the  moral  atmosphere  I  am  compelled 
to  breathe.  Gross  corruptions  in  the  world  around  me 
enfeeble  my  constitution,  and  hinder  me  from  reaching  the 
summits  of  possible  good.  The  evil  of  my  neighbor  is  an 
unfailing  clog  upon  my  own  virtue ;  and  not  until  purity  is 


UNIVERSALISM.  273 


universal  can  I  hope  to  feel  those  invigorating  influences 
which  ^vill  give  my  moral  nature  its  utmost  possible  devel- 
opment, bringing  me  "  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  So  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  conceive  how  any  considerable  part  of  mankind 
can  attain  that  degree  of  holiness  to  which  the  teaching 
and  sacrifice  of  Christ  seem  to  point,  so  long  as  another 
part  of  it  is  weighed  down  by  a  burden  of  wickedness  and 
woe.  The  salvation  of  the  world,  then,  involves  the  sal- 
vation of  individual  men ;  the  salvation  of  individuals,  in 
the  sense  in  which  Christ  meant  they  should  be  saved, 
when  he  said,  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will 
draw  all  men  unto  me,"  involves  the  salvation  of  the  world, 
using  the  term  world  with  the  broadest  and  most  compre- 
hensive meaning  of  which  it  is  capable. 

Besides  these  intellectual  and  moral  grounds  of  Univer- 
salism,  there  are  some  general  considerations  which  serve 
to  recommend  it  as  the  religion  which  is  demanded  by  the 
nature  of  man  and  the  constitution  of  the  world.  One  of 
these  is  the  inherent  stability  of  the  system.  Truth  is 
unchangeable  in  its  essence.  The  special  forms  of  its 
manifestation,  the  dress  it  wears  in  different  epochs,  the 
methods  by  which  it  is  inculcated,  may  vary ;  but  the 
ground-work  and  substance  of  truth  itself  is  unchanging 
and  unchangeable.  This  always  has  been  and  always 
must    be    a    prominent   characteristic    of    Universalism. 

18 


2  74        THE  LATEST    WORD   OF   UNIVERSALISM. 

Other  systems  have  changed  in  their  fundamental  ideas 
and  doctrines ;  and  their  more  candid  advocates  will 
frankly  admit  the  changes  they  have  undergone,  and  even 
point  them  out  with  feelings  of  pride  and  exultation. 
From  almost  all  the  older  creeds  the  elements  of  vindic- 
tiveness  and  fate  have  been  eliminated,  and  in  the  place 
of  them  moral  persuasiveness  and  infinite  love  have  been 
inserted.  Apart  from  the  historic  continuity  of  the 
churches  that  even  now  formally  hold  such  creeds,  we 
should  not  be  able  to  recognize  them  as  theirs  by  any 
thing  in  the  thought  and  life  of  to-day.  Indeed,  in  many 
of  their  more  prominent  features  we  could  scarcely  dis- 
tinguish them  from  our  own  broad  and  beneficent  view. 
No  more  convincing  proof  is  needed  of  their  native 
weakness. 

To  be  sure,  Universalism  has  changed  in  some  of  its 
aspects.  It  has  given  up  the  bald  literalness  which  char- 
acterized some  of  its  earlier  interpretations  of  Scripture, 
and  abandoned  much  that  was  mechanical  in  its  philosophy. 
It  has  moved  up  to  a  higher  stage  of  thought  and  life.  It 
takes  broader  and  more  comprehensive  views.  It  employs 
more  complicated  and  flexible  methods.  It  has  attained 
a  larger  and  deeper  spiritual  insight.  But  these  changes 
are  only  superficial.  They  affect  little  more  than  the 
vesture  of  the  doctrine.  The  essential  features  are  the 
same.     Our  views  of  the  nature  and  purposes  of  God,  of 


UNIVERSAL  ISM.  275 


the  offices  of  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  the  moral  con- 
stitution and  destiny  of  man,  as  well  as  of  the  process  by 
which  human  redemption  is  secured,  remain  the  same. 
These  cannot  be  changed  without  destroying  the  entire 
body  of  doctrine  which  they  help  to  constitute.  Herein, 
then,  we  have  a  most  important  requisite  of  a  sound  and 
durable  philosophy.  Herein  we  have  abundant  reason 
for  believing  that  our  doctrine  is  at  least  a  part  of  eternal 
verity ;  since  it  conforms  to  those  laws  by  which  the  truth 
is  handed  down,  without  alteration  or  amendment,  from 
generation  to  generation  and  from  age  to  age. 

It  is  enough  to  call  attention  to  one  other  phase  of  the 
Universalist  philosophy,  which  certainly  holds  no  unim- 
portant place  among  the  reasons  which  recommend  it  as 
the  religion  of  humanity.  It  is  a  harmonious  system.  It 
builds  ever,  not  only  on  the  indivisible  unity  of  God, 
but  on  the  indivisible  unity  of  man.  It  points  to  the 
harmonious  relations  of  moral  truths  and  moral  laws.  All 
other  systems  fail  just  here.  Practically,  they  destroy  even 
the  unity  of  God,  since  they  compel  him  to  divide  the 
moral  universe  with  a  principle  of  evil,  which  is  as  absolute 
within  its  proper  sphere  and  as  durable  as  his  own  nature. 
They  break  the  human  race  into  sections,  putting  a  barrier 
between  them  which  they  cannot  pass ;  separating  thus, 
according  to  some  mysterious  principle  of  discrimination, 
not   only  great  masses  of  men,  but  neighborhoods  and 


276         THE  LATEST    WORD    OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

families,  snapping  asunder  with  remorseless  insensibility  the 
most  delicate  tendrils  of  the  human  heart.  They  perpetu- 
ate discord.  They  exalt  and  glorify  confusion  and  moral 
chaos.  For  certainly  there  can  be  no  union  between  God 
and  sin :  he  will  not  join  hands  with  what  he  hates  with 
infinite  hatred,  or  give  his  approval  to  what  he  is  exerting 
himself  to  the  utmost  to  destroy.  Neither  can  there  be 
any  harmony  between  saints  and  sinners,  between  heaven 
and  hell.  But  who  that  thinks  of  God,  as  the  Universalist 
faith  conceives  him,  as  a  Being  infinite  in  wisdom  and 
power,  perfectly  just,  perfectly  true,  inexhaustibly  tender, 
"  doing  his  will  in  the  armies  of  heaven  and  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  earth,"  —  can  for  a  moment  feel 
that  the  universe  is  moving  towards  any  such  result,  can 
believe  that  the  Creator  and  Governor  of  men  will  rest 
contented  with  any  thing  less  than  the  conquest  and 
destruction  of  evil,  through  the  obedience  and  hoHness  of 
souls  ?  With  unbroken  confidence,  growing  stronger  and 
stronger  with  every  trial  of  it,  we  look  for  the  reign  of 
universal  righteousness,  for  the  ultimate  triumph  over 
sin,  and  over  the  sinful  affections  of  humanity,  of  a 
loving  God. 

Thus  the  Universalist  idea  meets  every  test  by  which  a 
form  of  religious  philosophy  must  be  tried.  It  quails  not 
under  the  application  of  the  laws  of  thought.  It  answers 
the  severest  demands  of  the  conscience,  and  awakens  a 


UNIVERSALISM.  277 


welcome  response  in  the  moral  instincts  of  the  human 
heart.  It  is  humane  ;  charged  with  the  tenderest  charity 
and  the  broadest  philanthropy.  It  is  permanent  and 
durable  as  the  substance  of  truth  and  the  nature  of  God. 
It  is  harmonious  ;  keeping  in  view  forever  — 

"  One  God,  one  law,  one  element, 

And  one  far-oflf  divine  event, 

To  which  the  whole  creation  moves." 


Cambndge :    Press  of  John  Wilson  and  Son. 


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